Passion After the Battle
by ChronicLegCramp-Since'99
Summary: My first fanfic- I know, really unoriginal title. It starts off as a regular AkuRoku but then goes in a completely different direction...Hope you enjoy! AkuRoku, Zemyx, AkuSai/Lesa :P
1. Chapter 1

**Passion ~After the Battle~**

**A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic by ChronicLegCramp-Since'99**

Pairings: AkuRoku, Zemyx and AkuSai/Lesa

*Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to SquareEnix and Disney, respectively*

**Chapter I**

Roxas was gazing up at the clear blue sky, finding familiar shapes in the clouds that drifted slowly past his vision. His head rested back on his arms, fingers absently clutching at blades of grass.

"Hey, Roxas," came the murmur of his friends voice, breaking into his thoughts. Roxas allowed his eyes to fall shut, a light smile playing around his lips. He merely hummed in response to his friend. There was a pause and then a low sigh.

"It sure is a beautiful day…" Roxas frowned as he detected a strange undercurrent in his friends, naturally laid-back tones.

"Sure is, Ax-"

"I'm leaving." Roxas almost bolted upright. Instead his eyes flashed open, eyebrows pulling together hastily.

"What do you mean?" He asked, cautiously. Even he could hear the tightness in his voice.

"We were gonna move on sometime, you know," Another sigh. "Just didn't think it'd be this soon…"

"Axel," Roxas said, finally sitting up to face his friend. Axel lay on his front, his head propped up on one hand while the other one tore at the grass in front of him. His natural wildly spiked, pillar-box red hair had been uncharacteristically straightened that morning and was tucked neatly behind his ears. In this style, Roxas could see that Axels hair fell easily almost half way down his back. Roxas met Axels emerald green eyes- set off even more so by the two unique dark upside down teardrop tattoos below either eye- with his own ocean blue ones.

"But you know, I was thinking we should go to Zexs before I go, so I can get that piercing I've been wanting," Axel said, finishing as he looked back down at the grass he'd been picking at.

"Axel." Roxas repeated, staring at his friend with a frown permanently etched on his face now.

"And weren't you thinking of dyeing your hair- what was it, black? We could do it together…" Axel trailed off as he finally caught Roxas' expression. "Aw, come on, Roxas…don't look at me like that…" Roxas huffed slightly and lay back down, now scowling at the sky. Axel sighed again, staring across at the spiky golden blond boys stormy expression.

"I have until the end of summer," Axel eventually admitted. Roxas closed his eyes, letting the information sink in, with a pang to his chest.

"But there's only two weeks left," he replied angrily, and then more quietly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it would've ruined our whole summer break," Axel answered, placating. "Sure we woulda still had fun and all but it would've been niggling away at the back of your mind, and you know how you are…" Roxas was sure he was pouting but he didn't care. In one swift move he was on his feet, storming off in the direction of the parks exit. Axels towering presence was beside him in an instant, falling into step.

"Where we headed? Zexs?" Axel asked, unnaturally upbeat.

"Do what you want, I'm going home." Roxas shot back, hotly.

"Wha…? Don't be like that- Roxas!" Axel called, helplessly watching Roxas' retreating back.

"Heya, Axel! What's…up…You okay?" Demyx was spinning contentedly on a stall, before coming to an abrupt stop as he took in Axels miserable face. "I'd ask where Roxas is but you look like you might hit me…" Axel rolled his eyes, smiling briefly at Zexion as he came through from the back room.

"Are you alright, Axel?" Zexion asked, carefully.

"Yeah, Axel, what's happened?" chimed in Demyx, rewarding himself with a casual hit up the side of his head from Zexion. Axel chuckled momentarily, shaking his head.

"So I told Roxas I'm leaving, but now he's gone off in a sulk," Axel slumped against the counter with a slight grimace as he remembered Roxas' parting glare.

"Well, you did wait until only two weeks away-" Zexion began.

"And you are his best friend, man. His only friend really…" Demyx cut in, wincing when Axel split a look between the two of them, exuding silent fury.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me, you guys," Axel retorted, folding his arms tightly over his skinny frame. "I know I can always count on you both to make me feel better."

"Except, until you leave- in two weeks," Demyx pointed out almost before Axel had finished speaking. Axel eyes him like he was contemplating ripping out all of the honey-coloured, mullet styled hair of his. Demyxs blue eyes widened as he shrank back. Zexions deep blue eye that wasn't hidden behind locks of his sharp silvery-blue hair, rolled to the heavens once in a perfect arc.

"Just give him space, Axel. To get used to the idea-" Zexion suggested before Demyx cut him off again.

"It's not like he's gonna avoid you for the rest of summer break, I mean, soon you'll be gone forever, man," Axel nodded reluctantly, gradually giving in to his friends reassurances.

"Yeah, you're right. He cant stay mad at me forever…"

Roxas was fuming. But although he wouldn't like to admit it, he was hurt more than anything. Axel had pretended for a whole month that everything was normal, the same as always, when all along he'd been hiding this. Roxas threw down the biro he'd been- not- doing his homework with, onto his desk, viciously. "Some friend," he grumbled; his stomach had been clenched uncomfortably since the park. He let out an uneven breath. Roxas kept picturing his going back to school in the fall but with Axel no longer by his side. More than anything, he frowned at how wrong that image looked, rather than the quickly impending loneliness, returning. Suddenly his chain of thoughts was disturbed by two short fisted pounds to his bedroom door.

"Hey, Chicken-wuss! Your boyfriends here to see you!" Seifers arrogant tones projected through the door, sarcasm fully intact. Apart from the fact that they both had blond hair and blue eyes, Roxas shared no other similarities or interests with his older brother, Seifer. Sometimes Roxas suspected that he had in fact been adopted but that his 'parents' had decided to pretend otherwise. Other times he thought that maybe he had simply just come into being and his supposed 'family' were strangers, secretly waiting and wondering when it was that Roxas was going to go home- to wherever that was. Though he only had this thought on occasion, like when sitting on the Clock Tower with Axel, eating sea-salt ice-cream, or whenever he was looking at and/or thinking about keys. Back in the present, Roxas had suddenly become aware of his door being opened and the all too familiar anorexic frame of Axel entering, almost casually.

"Heya, Roxas," his greeting smile was decidedly somewhat cautious but he shut the door behind him as he slouched over towards the bed, the only other seat available. "Remind me to punch your brother the next time I see him." He continued, trying to break the tension. Roxas couldn't help but notice Axels newly pierced eyebrow, the shiny black metal bar running through it at a slant. He turned away, shooting daggers out the window in front of him. He could feel Axels eyes boring into the side of his face.

"I take it you're still mad then," Axel spoke after what felt like hours of suffocating silence.

"What do you think? " Roxas shot back, still not looking at him; he crossed his arms almost as an afterthought. Axel groaned and lay face down on the bed. Immediately he was met by the off mix of soap and something not too far off vanilla, which was Roxas' natural smell. He took a couple more breaths in through his nose, his best friends scent strangely relaxing and then he lifted his face from the sheets. When Axel hadn't responded, Roxas had automatically begun to itch, trying desperately hard not to turn his full attention to the- now dubbed, untrustworthy- redhead. When he thought he couldn't take it anymore, his friend finally replied.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Axels voice was quiet but genuine and Roxas' frown softened ever so slightly. "I guess I was just trying to keep the illusion up for myself, not just for you…" Roxas sighed, he was still annoyed- it took him a while to let things go- but he glanced over at the older boy. Axel was now lying on his back, his arms behind his head, one leg bent and his green eyes, that usually seemed to forever hold fiery amusement were subdued. Roxas felt another hard pang to his chest as he stared at his friend.

"You're a moron," Roxas said, shaking his head. Axels eyes snapped to meet blue, the fire in them on the brink of return. He laughed, relief slowly spreading through him.

"But you know you love me," Axel replied with a shrug, smiling widely. Roxas rolled his eyes but looked away, anticipating the pink blush that rose to his cheeks.

"I'm still pissed off though," Roxas warned, irritably.

"Hey, Rox, you got any food? I'm starvin'," the red head sat up and stretched lazily, his fitted dark green, sleeveless shirt riding up slightly to expose a strip of smooth creamy white skin. The blond pulled his eyes away, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"I think my mums ordering Chinese," he answered nonchalantly, standing up and switching the TV on for something to do.

"Hell yeah," Axel exclaimed, returning his arms to his sides and rubbing his hands together. The blond kicked his converses off, joining Axel on the bed and instantly taking up channel surfing. Axel pulled his boots off before drawing his legs up to sit cross legged.

"Your piercings cool," Roxas commented grudgingly after a moment.

"You mean frickin' sexy!" the red head said excitedly, striking a pose. "Oh and guess what! Not five minutes after getting it done, I got a date!" Roxas couldn't explain why but at the word date he felt like someone had forced him to drink liquid acid, which proceeded to corrode away at his throat and stomach. He snapped back into reality when he realised that Axel was still talking.

"…It wasn't love at first sight, of course, but I have to admit he sure is attractive- he's got these intelligent aquamarine eyes and this longish flow of weird silver hair…" Axel stared off, dreamily. "But you know, it was really his bad boy aura that made me say yes. That and his physique…but everything about him just screams 'dangerous' and I couldn't resist that…" At some point Roxas had felt like he was having a panic attack and lay down, closing his eyes and trying very hard not to strangle his friend, to get him to stop talking. He covered his face with a hand, attempting to zone out the red head when he realised all was silent around them. He opened one eye to catch Axels curious gaze.

"Well? What do ya think?" he asked eagerly. Roxas contemplated pretending to be dead so that he wouldn't have to answer that question but thankfully, Seifer interrupted by slamming into the room and dumping a steaming hot bag on the floor.

"You kids be good and share now," he sniggered before exiting the way he came, slamming the door shut again. In a second Axel had pounced on the food to Roxas' relief, even if the distraction was momentary. Roxas ate silently, letting the redhead prattle on about the TV show Roxas wasn't paying attention to. Instead he was wondering why he was…affected so much by the news of Axels date. It wasn't anything new, guys- and girls- were always asking Axel out, although he'd never seemed too interested in anyone till now. He'd been out with a couple of guys on one of two dates but would only deem them 'just a bit of fun'. But this new guy- Riku- Axel had actually spent time talking about, going into detail whether Roxas wanted to know or not. This 'Riku' had apparently been the one to finally catch the redheads attention. No, Roxas knew what was wrong- he just wanted Axel to himself for the next two weeks. That was it. Wasn't it? But wait, why was Axel leading on this Riku guy when he was going to be leaving soon? Roxas was starting to annoy himself, so he stared moodily at the TV trying to catch up with the story. Not long after, Axel turned the TV off and stood in front of his friend, hands on hips.

"I thought we were okay now, what's up?" he demanded, eyes scrutinising Roxas' face. Roxas flushed, glaring at his feet. At the corner of his vision he could see Axels foot start impatiently, tapping the floor. In an instant the redhead had forced the blonds chin up with the crook of his index finger, to meet his gaze. Roxas tried to move his head away but Axel wouldn't let him.

"Tell me," was all he said, green staring into blue, firmly. Roxas could barely breathe but he stared right back, allowing anger to become his primary emotion over the other feeling that he possibly name. "Tell. Me."

"No." the blond shot back, his stare merging into a scowl. Axels mouth involuntarily stretched into a smirk as he felt laughter bubbling up inside of him. Unfortunately, this made the hot-headed blond angrier and he gave the redhead a violent shove. Having managed to get free he stormed out of the bedroom without another word. Axel was doubled over both from the shove and the fact that he was laughing his head off at the younger boy. Once he'd calmed down he stretched out on his front on Roxas' bed and promptly fell asleep.

Axel sat up ramrod straight out of the dream, flustered and was startled even further by coming face to face with Roxas. The room was dark apart from the bedside lamp; the bed sheets twisted randomly around his legs were the only sign of his having rolled over in his sleep. He looked back up at the blond who was giving him a peculiar look.

"What?" the redhead said, raising an eyebrow. The blonds face immediately returned to its glare, all pouty lips and huge blue eyes that sparked electricity- the dangerous kind.

"You're in _my_ bed," Roxas grated out, automatically turning red. Axel glanced at the boy, taking in the pyjamas and then at the clock. 21:03. Axel folded his arms.

"And you're not gonna offer your guest the bed?"

"Who says you're staying?" Roxas challenged, quickly. Axel rolled his eyes at that, making the blond cross his own arms.

"Its nine, for crying out loud," Axel reasoned before grinning at the blond. "I'm not moving." Roxas seemed to turn even redder, quietly seething.

"I'm not sleeping on the floor in my own bedroom!" Roxas replied stubbornly, sounding as if he was being strangled.

"Then don't," Axel shrugged, before shifting over to the right, patting the newly found space with a suspicious glint in his eyes. Roxas stared at the redhead incredulously, mouth hanging open slightly. The redhead simply laughed once and then got comfortable, closing his eyes again. Roxas just sat there debating what to do. A couple minutes later he sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't you want to borrow some pjs or something?" Axel didn't open his eyes.

"I doubt anything you own will fit me, Rox," the redhead chuckled lightly. Roxas scowled but went in search for some of his baggier stuff. Padding back over to the bed he threw a baggy white tank top and a pair of grey track bottoms that were too big for him at Axels face, concealing a smirk at the other boys reaction.

"You're abusive, you know. First you shove me, and then you throw clothes at me when I'm trying to sleep," Axel sniffed melodramatically. 'Serves him right' Roxas thought to himself as he settled in on his back, an arm propped behind his head. His smile vanished however as he caught the redhead finish undoing the buttons on his shirt and let it slide off his shoulders onto the floor. Axel didn't notice the blond boy gaping at his slightly toned abs and the smooth flesh that covered his skinny but firm frame. Roxas' wide blue eyes slid over his friends torso almost lazily until they came to an abrupt stop at the waistband of Axels jeans. His long artistic fingers forced the zip down as Roxas watched as if it was in slow motion, desperately trying to clear the sharp obstacle in his throat, while at the same time trying to pry his eyes away from the redhead. Roxas couldn't help but notice how the hem of Axels boxers nudged down slightly as the older boy shimmied out of his jeans. Once the redhead had pulled on the tank top that fit so tight that it rode up, Roxas finally managed to tear his gaze away, rolling onto his side with his back to his friend. The blush on his cheeks burned stronger when he realised he was turned on; squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out the images now imprinted on the backs of his eyelids. His breath caught when he felt the bed shift under Axels weight, gently. Slowly he let out the breath he'd been holding and started biting his lip. After a couple of minutes of silence, he freed his bottom lip from his teeth, having tasted blood and tried to snuggle deeper into his pillow. And away from Axel.

"Hey, Roxas," came the regrettably cheery tones of the redhead. "You never told me what you think of Riku," Roxas' heart nearly stopped, his finally natural toned skin, staining red again.

"I haven't even met him," the blond managed to reply, weakly. He'd almost forgotten completely about Riku when he'd returned to his room earlier to find Axel sleeping soundly, caught in a dream. Roxas had just sat on the bed watching him sleep for an hour without knowing why, before going to get changed for bed in the bathroom. He remembered the redhead breathe Roxas' name once in his sleep and felt his heart accelerate, uncomfortably.

"Roxas?" the redheads voice was a murmur now, significantly closer to the blond than before. "What's wrong? You're not asleep are you…?" Axel reached out to give the boy a light shake when he was startled by Roxas' sudden reply.

"What is it, Axel?" Roxas' tone was tinged with aggression which he was grateful for because it meant his voice hadn't cracked or wobbled.

"Do you think I should go out with him? With Riku?" Axel demanded impatiently, talking to the back of the boys head. He wished the boy would turn so that he could see his expression.

"Didn't you already say yes?" Roxas retorted, still stalling. Axel sighed, crossing his arms. He took in a long breath, trying to calm his patience, momentarily distracted by the combination of soap and vanilla and cream- not that cream necessarily had a particular smell, but if it did…

"What were you dreaming about earlier?" Roxas asked randomly, instead of answering the question. Rather miraculously, the redhead blushed. Although it was very fair and subtle, Axel was glad Roxas couldn't see it. He turned his head to stare at the ceiling, a sheepish smile- more like grimace- on his face.

"I can't really remember…why?" Axel lied, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck.

"You were talking in your sleep." The blond murmured, vaguely. The redheads eyes flew wide, he stared at the back of the blonds head in surprise. And fear.

"What'd I say?" the uneasiness in his voice wasn't especially subtle and he mentally kicked himself.

"Just the one thing really, sure you don't remember what you were dreaming about?" Roxas' tone was almost smug, the redhead noted, 'I couldn't have said too much then…'

"I was in the park, lying down in the grass, on a particularly hot day," he told the blond truthfully, of course he'd left out what he'd been doing laying in the grass in the middle of the park. Or with who. Axel suppressed a squirm as he recalled the dream, shifting further away from Roxas so that his left arm was just about hanging off the edge.

"Should you really start dating this guy, when you'll be leaving soon?" Roxas asked eventually, rather timidly. The redhead sighed and rolled onto his side, watching the rise and fall of his best friends breathing. It seemed erratic.

"I'm gonna tell him at the beginning of our date," he said slowly. "Make it clear that we'd just be a two-week fling, you know," Axel continued to watch as the blond appeared to stop breathing all together, only to start up again faster than before. He quirked an eyebrow as Roxas spoke again.

"It kinda seemed like you were more interested in this one," he was speaking quietly but whether it was from exhaustion or something completely different, Axel couldn't tell. His breathing had evened out once again though.

"Nope, need something t distract me though, right?" Roxas seemed to exhale slowly and then stop again. "Besides, I only want what I can't have," he added as an afterthought, watching the younger boys breathing speed up. The redhead didn't know what to make of his friends unique breathing habits but he wasn't really paying attention anymore. He let his heavy lids close then, drawing him into the deepest depths of sleep. He hoped he didn't dream again that night, and if he did, he hoped he didn't say anything.

When Axel had left them that evening, Zexion and Demyx had gone upstairs to the formers flat above the shop, as they did most days. Demyx had been talking none stop for a good ten minutes when the quieter one of the two got up and walked over to the fridge. Taking out left over spaghetti napolitana from the night before, the silvery blue haired boy began dishing it out onto two plates. The honey blond bounced out of his seat and flew across the room the moment his eyes met with the food. Zexion silently placed the first plate of food into the microwave, pulling out a book from seemingly nowhere and proceeded to read it, leaning back against the counter while the food heated up. Demyxs eyes were trained on the slowly revolving plate, impatiently. The shorter boy sighed but was glad he'd found a way to shut the other one up.

"Ready!" the honey blond exclaimed as the microwave dinged three times. Zexion nodded once, not taking his eyes away from the book and Demyx almost broke the microwave in his haste to get to the piping hot spaghetti. The quiet boy continued reading as he placed the second dish in the machine and turned it on. Demyx instantly started wolfing down the food, pausing to whimper about a burnt tongue.

"Wait a sec…where's the meat?" the honey blond demanded after a moment. Zexion rolled his eye, the book he'd been holding seeming to have disappeared as he retrieved his food and sat down at the table, opposite the other boy.

"Its spaghetti napolitana." Zexion said in a toneless voice, feeling a small smile grace his mouth at Demyxs forlorn expression.

"Don't you have any proper food?" he whined half-heartedly, already knowing the answer.

"If you don't want it, I'll eat it," Zexion replied, watching his friend quickly shovel the rest of the pasta into his mouth. The silvery blue haired boy stifled a giggle behind his napkin as his honey blond friend tried to swallow down the contents stuffed in his mouth. When he was done, he chugged down his coke before letting out a long sigh of relief. Propping a hand under his chin, Demyx watched the other boy as he finished off his own plate. They sat in companionable silence, Zexion eventually pulling his book out again, while the honey blond gazed at him over the table. After a couple minutes deep blue eyes came up to meet soft aqua. Demyxs smile widened and he made a small noise of content, caught in the moment. The other boy blinked, blushed and raised his eyebrows, not necessarily in that order. What he didn't do however, was look away, to the surprise of both himself and his somewhat dreamy eyed best friend.

"Demyx?" Zexion murmured, more to himself than the other boy. Demyx was still staring dopily down into the blue haired boys soul, to the latters chagrin but also a new found other emotion that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But it was there, deep, deep down curled up inside of him. Zexion folded his hands together on the table in front of him and continued to return the honey blonds gaze.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

The next morning, Roxas woke up gradually. He could vaguely make out his brothers voice sifting up from downstairs and one or two others, too muffled to distinguish. The sounds of cars and people and children playing could be heard in the distance, through the small crack in the window. He settled into the closer sound of a gentle rhythm pressed against his left ear. After a couple beats the peace in Roxas' mind dissipated and his ocean blue eyes flew open. Body rigid and trying not to breathe, the golden blond slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and stared down at the sleeping boy in his bed. He recounted the night before but he couldn't for the life of him think how he'd ended up curled into the redheads side, head resting on his chest. Roxas was mortified even more by the fact that his friend had had his arm slung, almost securely around the blonds waist. The younger boy silently thanked nobody in particular, that the redhead hadn't woken first and got gently out of bed, putting distance between himself and Axel. Said person was completely out of it, his mouth partially open and his face smoothed out and relaxed. Roxas was surprisingly pleased to see how messy Axels hair was and that some of its natural wild spikiness had returned, as he sat at his desk and rubbed his eyes. The sleepy blond glanced at his clock to see that it was 10:47, before his eyes came to rest on his friend once more. He looked at the strong jaw line, following it over a pale neck, continuing down over a bony collarbone, spreading out over the sculptured plains of his chest- at least the blond imagined it to be sculptured; creamy and soft. The blonds gaze lingered where it met a patch of exposed skin. The ill-fitted tank he'd given Axel to wear had ridden up on one side to show off the beginning of an especially defined ribcage, due to the redheads naturally wiry frame. A deep crimson crept up Roxas' neck as he had to admit to himself that it was the most erotic scene he'd ever seen. In that moment Roxas knew for sure there was something wrong with him, but soon he'd be alone again without even Axel to tease him and make fun of his strangeness. He was doomed to be a loner-weirdo and walk the planet alone for the rest of his life- like the Incredible Hulk, or something. Roxas was snapped out of his reverie, practically jumping out of his chair, when Seifer crashed open the door with a sneer already plastered to his face. The pale blond glanced once at his brothers guilty expression before casting his light blue gaze around the room, landing on a groggy redhead. After a pause the pale yellow haired boy boomed out a laugh, slapping his thigh once before messing up Roxas' hair and walking out of the room. 'Smug fucker' the golden haired boy thought angrily. Axel frowned at the sudden noise, groaning as he came closer to conscious thought. 'Did Roxs brother have to be so damn loud?' The redhead rolled over, pulled a pillow over his head and let out a frustrated noise.

"Axel?" came a familiar soft voice. Axel sighed, annoyance quickly evaporating. Removing the pillow, he rolled onto his back and stifled a yawn.

"What the time?" the redhead breathed, eyes still shut.

"Five past eleven," came the small voice again. Finally the redhead propped himself up on his elbows, as his eyes sought out his friend. The blond had his back to the redhead. He was going through his chest of draws, picking out things at random. Checkered socks. Red baggy top. Black skinny jeans. Dark purple boxers. Roxas hesitated for a second and then pulled his blue pyjama top over his head, keeping his back to Axel. The redheads eyes widened, instantly focusing on the blonds bare back in surprise. He couldn't help but marvel at the pale milky skin and the perfect lines of the small boys shoulder blades, which adjusted as the blond reached for his t-shirt. Axel frowned to himself at the jolt of undeniable lust he had just experienced as Roxas adorned his red top. The golden haired boy gathered up the rest of his clothes before making for the door.

"Be back," was all he said, not looking at the redhead, and left the room. After a moment, Axel decided he should get dressed himself. Feeling more awake, he retrieved his mobile out of his back pocket and sent a short, precise text. He'd been right about needing a distraction, even if it was no longer just for the solemn thoughts of what lay beyond the end of summer break. Perching on the bed, the redhead pulled on his boots. Roxas entered then, throwing his pyjamas towards the bed and falling back into his desk chair.

"Well, someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning," the redhead observed, smirking as the indefinite gleam returned to his emerald eyes. The blond rolled his eyes, huffing.

"I could hardly have gotten out on the other side with your big lump in the way," Roxas returned, sarcastically.

"Now that's not true, you could have always climbed over me," the redhead said with a grin. "And for your information, my body is not a 'lump'; it's a completely unique, sensual physique that no one could ever imitate." Hands on hips, green stared down blue.

"Yeah, 'that no one could ever imitate' is what unique, generally means," the blond said dryly.

"You're just jealous." The older boy said childishly, sticking his tongue out.

"Do you always have to act like an immature kid?" Roxas shot back suddenly, turning red. Axel let out a startled laugh.

"'Course not, I only do it to piss you off, Cherub," the redhead answered, fluttering his eyelashes. "You're just so damn cute when you're angry,"

"Is everything always a joke to you?" the blond all but shouted, finally getting the redheads attention. Axels shock wore off quickly and for a long time he just looked at Roxas. The angry boy looked away, biting down on his knuckle, silently willing the other boy to stop looking at him in that way.

"You're still mad," it wasn't a question and Roxas didn't answer. After a longer agonising silence, he heard Axel sigh. "Look, I gotta get going, anyway. I got my date with Riku,"

"Just go," the blond muttered, letting out a shaky breath. Axel felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he could tell from his friends expression that it would be best if he left.

"I'll see you tomorrow," the redhead promised, pausing in the doorway.

"Don't bother," the blond replied, lips forming a perfect pout. Axel almost wanted to roll his eyes. Almost.

"As I said, I'll see you tomorrow." He reiterated; it sounded more like a threat. And then Roxas was alone again.

That same morning, Zexion had woken up at a weird angle with a strained neck. After a beat, he registered a weight pinning him in place and then looking down, had found his arm around a sleeping Demyx with his head on the other boys shoulder. Glancing around further he saw that they were sitting on the couch and concluded that they must have fallen asleep in front of the TV. The blue haired boy stared at the mullet-ish honey blond. Demyx was snoring softly against Zexions shoulder, oblivious to the world. The taller boy shifted suddenly, a hand reaching up to rub his neck, with a groan. Zexion kept deathly still as the other boy gradually became aware of his surroundings. The honey blond looked up blearily, into a cautious deep blue eye and froze. Demyx looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights as the blue haired boy continued to stare at him. The honey blond made a false sounding laugh, starting to disentangle himself from his friend. But Zexion grabbed the front of Demyxs electric blue shirt and pulled him down to crush his lips against the honey blonds. Demyxs eyes stayed open, stunned for a few seconds before falling shut as he kissed tentatively back.

"I-I thought you d-didn't-" Demyx began once Zexion released him.

"Well you were mistaken," the quiet boy said his voice low and muted. However his lips pulled up into an unique smile that had never before graced his face and never would again except for when directed at the not-quite mullet-styled honey blond with the childishly innocent aqua eyes. The very same eyes that gazed down into fathomless depths of the only deep blue eye visible. Demyxs mouth grew wide immediately, forming a lop-sided grin.

"Yeah?" the blond murmured a little dopily, the grin never leaving his face.

"Yes." Zexion answered anyway, cupping the taller boys face in his hands and drawing him into a fervent kiss. 'Yes, this is definitely a better way to silence him.'

Roxas gloomily, walked up the hill towards the Twilight Station, wallowing in self pity. Feelings of regret would surface only to be closed away by anger and what the blond had stopped pretending wasn't jealousy. Somewhere, Axel was out with his newest conquest, laughing and flirting, while the younger boy had to watch today's sunset all alone. They'd probably gone back to Rikus by now or maybe even Axels, to continue their 'fun' more privately. Fuming, the blond struggled to breathe as he paused by at the bottom of the station clock tower, hands in pockets and kicked at the floor. Movement from the corner of his eye caused him to glance up, momentarily distracting him from his thoughts. A tall teenager- though everybody was tall compared to Roxas- around Axels height, was leaning his arms against the low wall and staring off into the sun, now half way through setting. Roxas was about to hurry to the top of the Clock Tower, the usual spot, but he paused again. Roxas couldn't quite see the taller boys face but he could tell by his profile that he was attractive. His black hair was slicked back into a two-inch pony tail and looked as velvety as a black birds feathers. His straight prominent nose was pale, as was the rest of his skin, which contrasted in a strangely, pretty way. The black haired boy wore black slacks over black and white converses and a snug-fitted white, slightly opaque shirt, the sleeves folded up at the elbows. A small smile tugged at the corners of the blonds mouth, making it hard for him to deny that he was checking out that boy and very much liking what he saw. 'When had this happened?' As if feeling his gaze, the boy looked over his shoulder, spotting Roxas. The blond instantly looked down, burning bright red which unfortunately wasn't from the sunset. The black haired boy turned around and strolled over to Roxas, thumbs hooked in trouser pockets. He was a lot older than the blond had initially presumed. Roxas tried to act as though he too had been watching the sunset until the boy stepped into his line of vision. The shorter boys ocean blue eyes were met with a pair of wide intensely dark chocolate brown ones. Absently, cocking his head, Roxas studied the taller boys face; in the middle of his forehead was a darkish mark- a birthmark? Or a scar. The watchful eyes held a gleam of curiosity, an almost hidden smile playing around his perfectly sculptured lips. They seemed to scream out in relief at having finally had a smile bestowed upon them.

"Tseng," the dark haired boy said in a deep rich voice, offering his hand.

"Hi, I'm Roxas," the blond smiled, accepting his hand and mentally taking note of its smooth textures in pleasure.

"Roxas," Tseng repeated with what seemed like a bemused look. Roxas nodded nervously, under those cat-like eyes.

"So…what brings you here?" the blond asked, awkwardly, before realising what a stupid question he'd just asked. Tsengs expression didn't appear to change however, but then again that didn't say much. He continued to radiate silent power…and sex.

"Admiring the view," he answered in that smouldering voice, although Roxas wasn't entirely sure he was talking about the now almost fully set sun. Needless to say he blushed again. "What about you?"

"The same, though I usually watch from up there," the blond replied, gesturing up at the clock tower above them, and trying to calm his nerves.

"Impressive," the dark haired boy commented, eyes returning to Roxas. "You must be quite the fearless little thing," electricity simmered behind the blonds eyes at that.

"I'm not 'little', there are shorter people than me," he said, a bit indignant. Tseng turned away, hiding a chuckle behind his hand. Fascinated by this, Roxas felt an involuntary smile adorn his face.

"That might be so," the taller boy amended, his smile seeming to widen ever so slightly. "But I doubt any share that kind of…passion, you possess. Roxas." The person in question reddened further, fuelling his embarrassment. The blond wasn't sure which had made him blush more, the compliment itself or the unflinching sincerity, which the words had emanated. He didn't know what to say so he continued to gaze up at the dark haired boy, getting caught in the melted dark chocolate of his eyes. Then without warning, Tseng closed the gap, taking the blonds face gently in his hands and slowly kissed him. It was as light as a feather and then it was over, leaving Roxas desperately wanting more. He was panting a little he realised, swallowing hard.

"Thank you. Roxas." The taller boy breathed before pulling back.

"For what?" he didn't answer. With one last- curious- look at Roxas, he strode away, into the night. Roxas stood there, mouth still partially open, for a full ten minutes before snapping out of it. He wore a dazed smile the rest of the evening, practically oblivious to the outside world. However, when he curled into bed later on and was met by a familiar concoction of minty toothpaste and cinnamon, still lingering from the night before, the happy fog surrounding the blonds mind lifted. Roxas sighed.

After he'd left his friends house, Axel had sprinted home to have a quick shower and dress for his date with Riku. They'd arranged to meet at the coffee shop off of the Sandlot. Axel and Roxas went there a lot, so the redheads nerves were sure to be eased by the familiar surroundings. The redhead threw on a long-sleeved, stylishly ripped red and black top and his favourite black skinny jeans. And his boots- of course. Catching the train into town, he walked casually over to the coffee shop, breathing in the rich smell of coffee that wafted out into his face. Axel bought a chocolate frappochino and settled into a window seat, creating an air of patience around him as he sipped at his ice drink. As he watched the life passing by the shop, he all but forgot about why he was there. Axel glanced up at the clock behind the counter, noting that Riku was close to twenty minutes late. Suddenly he was startled by his phone, vibrating twice in his pocket. From Riku.

'Sorry. Something's come up. Wont make it. Riku.'

Axels whole body breathed out in quiet relief. He paused, surprised. Hadn't he been excited about the date? He wondered before realisation dawned on him. All the redhead had thought about this whole time was a certain blue eyed, golden blond boy. And all Axel wanted to do was make said blond smile. Getting up, he slid his mobile into his back pocket and made for the exit. In his haste to get to his destination, he accidently bumped into a small blue eyed girl with short black hair. He murmured his apology as he tore his emerald eyes from her cerulean blue ones that resembled another pair too much. The redhead continued back up to the station as a train pulled in. 'What a wasted trip,' he thought before shrugging; a small grin of anticipation, growing on his face. He headed over to Roxas' house as soon as he stepped off the train. Checking the time, 14.15, the redhead was certain the blond would be home. And Axel was his best and only friend…On his way to the door, Seifer emerged, pulling a short girl behind him. She had straight, shoulder length silvery grey hair and russet brown eyes. Oddly though, she wore a simple black eye patch over her right eye. Just as Axel was about to glance at her clothes, Seifer spoke.

"Sorry but I'm afraid Lover Boys not here," he sniggered at the redhead who was about to make a sarcastic retort, when it registered what the pale blond had just said.

"What?" Axels thought process halted, a fair blush staining his cheeks. 'Of course, his life doesn't revolve around me,' But the redhead realised then that he wished it did.

"He didn't look too happy when he left either, so you'd better fix that." the pale blond snickered but there was a steely look in his light blue eyes that told the redhead he was serious. He may as well have said 'You ever hurt my little brother and you'll wake up to know what hell feels like.'

"SIMPLE." The strange eye patch girl said, but even though she enunciated the word firmly, the volume of her voice was weirdly low. The only hint at what she'd meant was the small glint of challenge in the depths of her one visible eye.

"Yeah, yeah, I got'cha," Axel nodded and even as he sighed, he could feel a silent respect for Roxas' older brother rising.

"Alright, Fujin, lets roll," and he flicked his wrist even though he still had the girls hand in his. The redhead suppressed the urge to roll his eyes before deciding to just sit outside Roxas' house until he returned. After a moment, he tried phoning the blond, but his mobile was switched off. The redhead made a small noise of impatience, as he tapped a hand against his leg. Eventually Axel fell asleep, head drooped against his chest. He woke up almost three hours later to see that the sun had completely gone down. Pushing himself up from off the ground, he stretched and yawned simultaneously. He paused briefly and then took out his mobile to try Roxas again.

"Still switched off," he mumbled, half incredulous. 'What could he possibly be doing without me?' the redhead crossed his arms, irritated. Once another moment had passed, he breathed out slowly and walked back towards his house. To think that Roxas had made Axel wait for almost a whole day was ridiculous, but it had happened and the redhead was certain he'd made the blond wait before. The fiery teen remained stunned as he let himself I and went straight to his room. Collapsing face first onto his double bed, he didn't move for another hour until his hunger won out. He hadn't eaten anything all day, although he'd had the chocolate ice drink earlier. Axel padded out of his room and into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table almost lazily. His adoptive mother stood cooking something by the stove.

"What's for dinner, Mum? I'm half starved," the redhead leant his head on the table and tried to identify all the smells surrounding him.

"Guess," his mother replied, a smile in her voice. The boy suddenly combed his fingers through his semi-straight, semi-spiked hair and proceeded to- violently- rub scratch and pull at it, manically. Instantly the vivid red hair returned to its natural wild spiky state and the boy sat back with a sigh.

"Much better," Axel breathed, panting faintly.

"What's wrong, honey?" his mother asked as she placed a plate of food in front of him. She stroked the spikes back tenderly, while he took in the food. He practically drooled.

"Lea?" coming out of his mind, he scowled momentarily.

"The names Axel- A-X-E-L. Get it memorised," the redhead protested in a whiny voice as his mother just laughed and went to serve her own plate.

"That's not what's on your birth certificate, hun," the boys mother replied, gracefully taking the seat opposite with her food.

"Yeah, well, 'Lea' is lame and the spelling- what's that about?" he stated, picking up his fork and digging into the steaming hot bolognaise. Axels mother laughed lightly, as she sipped her wine.

"You know why- we thought you were a girl and we planned to call you Leah," she laughed again, seeing her sons expression.

"Yeah, yeah, until you took me for my nappy change," he grumbled, stabbing more forcefully at the pasta. "I've heard it all before,"

"Even the lady who brought you to us thought you were a girl- she told us you were," his mother grinned, remembering.

"No wonder I turned out the way I did," the lightly blushing boy commented, half-heartedly.

"Well you do have especially pretty eyes for a boy," Axels mother murmured, looking at the redhead, fondly.

"Gee, thanks, Mum," he said with a hint of sarcasm, but he gave her a genuine smile. After a long moment with just the sounds of eating, Axel glanced at his mother again.

"Mum…" he began quietly.

"Yes, honey?" his mother prompted after a pause.

"…Its time we moved on." the redhead said tonelessly, more to himself than anything. His mother seemed surprised at first but then understanding dawned on her face as she studied her son. The boy who was staring down at his plate, looked as though he was slowly burning to death on the inside, every minute more he stayed here in Twilight Town. She had seen that look before.

"Aw, honey, is it that bad?" she asked softly, worry creasing her forehead.

"Worse." Her son whispered, glumly.

"And you've tried?" she pressed gently. Axels head lifted at that and stared with wide emerald eyes. It was the same expression he used to wear when he was little and he insisted that he didn't understand his maths homework.

"You know there's no point even if-" the redhead attempted to reason.

"Lea, this is probably the last chance to show your true feelings before we leave- and don't say it won't change anything because it will. In here," his mother reached over and pointed at his chest, over his heart. Axel pouted slightly but nodded. "Got it memorised?" she added after a beat, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," the redhead answered eventually. "Thank, Mum." And shooting her a small grin, he finished his dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Roxas woke with a start on Wednesday morning, snapping out of a dream that resembled the previous evening. Slowly, almost shyly, the blond reached a hand up to touch his lips. Emotions flooded through him as he recalled a foreign mouth brushing against his own, slight pressure and then a gasp. He'd been kissed. By a stranger- a boy. But a kiss it was, none the less. However, as quickly as his mind conjured up a pair of dark chocolate brown eyes staring down into his, it shifted and he was suddenly looking up into two fiery emeralds- if they could look fiery, that is. Roxas squeezed his eyes shut and willed away the last image, angrily. He muffled a scream into his pillow, trying to pull his mind back to the mysterious boy he'd met and only half succeeded. He sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and sat for a couple minutes, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He jumped to his feet, hand clenched over his chest when the ring of his mobile sounded. Taking a glance at the caller ID, he was faced with a dilemma. He could answer the phone and have to speak to the redhead or not answer the phone, resulting in him having to both see and talk to the redhead, when he turned up at his door- which Roxas knew would be Axels next step. And then both miraculously and disastrously, the ringing stopped. The blond exhaled through his nose, although when the ringing started up again he simultaneously sucked in a breath and recoiled.

"Hello?" Roxas spoke, voice neutral.

"Hey! You finally picked up! I was about to send out a search party," Axel said, not quite masking his relief with amusement. "Where were you yesterday? I was outside your house for like three hours! Fell asleep and everything," the blond struggled to keep up as the redhead eventually paused for breath.

"I was watching the sunset." The blond replied, monotonously before adding as an afterthought, "With a friend." There was a long silence and then a scoff.

"What friend?" Axel asked, disbelieving.

"Nobody you know," the blond couldn't help the note of smugness that crept into his voice.

"Anyway, listen, I gotta go. See you at Zexs at two o'clock?" the redhead said, seemingly unaffected by the younger boys words. Roxas frowned, disappointed.

"Maybe," he began, pouting stubbornly.

"Okay, Rox, see you later," the call ended. The small boy made a noise of irritation before chucking his mobile on the bed and huffing out of the room and into the bathroom.

Standing just outside Zexions tattoo and piercings shop, Roxas contemplated the fact that he could still leave, now, while he had the chance. But curiosity got the better of him and he silently pushed open the door. The blond had only been here once before and only met Zexion and Demyx- Axels best friends, besides himself- a couple times. By the third time, Roxas had concluded that where Zexion could be unnaturally quiet when he chose to, Demyx was bubbly and just as a much a chatterbox as Axel- probably more so. Stepping further into the shop gingerly, there was a pause and then Demyx with his usual failed mullet/mohawk styled hair, came running through from the back with Axel hot on his heels. The blond rolled back on his heels a bit as the two boys came to a halt in front of him; Zexion followed them in silently, his eyes glued to the pages of a book, all the while.

"Hey, Roxas!" the honey blond grinned widely down at the other boy, while Axel remained an inch or two behind, trying to gauge the small boys mood.

"Hi, Demyx," the blond smiled before glancing over at the silvery blue haired boy. "Hey, Zexion," the said person looked up momentarily to give Roxas a nod before he returned to his book again.

"Come through, we got pizza," Demyx gestured, turning to walk back the way he came, soon joined by Zexion. Axel still stood looking at the blond, who didn't move in response.

"Hey," he began, in a surprisingly soft voice. "Red or blue?"

"Blue." Roxas answered honestly. They'd both established the 'red mood or blue mood?' question after their first fight as a quick and easy way to express how they were feeling without having to talk about it, if they didn't want to. Red was angry, whereas blue was sad. They'd matched other colours to emotions since but those didn't really apply right now.

"Alright, come here," the redhead murmured as he stepped forward to envelope the blond into a bear hug. After three seconds the blond relaxed and reached his arms around his friend, gratefully excepting the hug for more than a few reasons.

"Stop flirting, you two and hurry up before I finish the pizza myself!" Demyx called from the back room in a sing-song voice, instantly making the two boys awkward. Axel released Roxas reluctantly and ruffled his hair before slouching through. On entering, the blond noticed speakers in the corner hooked up to an MP3, playing softly. His ears pricked, as he tried to identify the song.

"Luna, by Smashing Pumpkins," the redhead informed him casually as he flung himself down on the only sofa in the room, positioned slightly off centre in the middle of the room. To the right was a tall standard lamp and the only other things to sit on in the room, were two giant beanbags dumped unceremoniously on the floor opposite the sofa. An open pizza box lay on the floor next to the purple beanbag that Demyx currently inhabited. To Roxas' surprise, Zexion sat on the floor in front of the honey blond, leaning back between his legs, book in hand- naturally- while the older blond ran his fingers through the silvery blue hair, absently. Reddening, Roxas sat down next to Axel and tried not to stare at the two boys.

"Argh, they've been like this all morning," the redhead rolled his eyes and started making gagging noises. Neither the blue haired boy nor the mullet haired boy paid him any attention, the former merely hummed along to the music.

"I don't know, I kinda thought it was nice…" the blond said shyly after a moment, causing all three friends to look up at him. Even Zexion lifted his deep blue eyes- though only one was visible, as per- which held a spark of curiosity. The smirk wiped completely off of his face, Axel just stared down at his blond counterpart. The blond in question in turn stared down at his hands, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Have some pizza, Rox," Demyx offered him the box, pulling it back when Axel made for a slice. "Have some pizza, ROXAS," he repeated, returning the redheads glare with an evil grin.

"Wha…? How come he gets pizza and I don't?" the redhead protested, flailing his arms about.

"Because YOU, are unworthy," the honey blond replied, pointing his finger dramatically at the redhead.

"You gotta be kidding me," the green eyed boy huffed, not even trying to defend himself. Roxas chuckled around his pizza, earning himself a pouty frown.

"Here," the blond held out half of his slice to his friend, hesitantly. When the redhead started to wave him off, he rather unexpectedly- to himself and the rest of the boys- leant over and shoved the pizza against the other boys mouth, which opened in shock, causing him to nearly choke. Wide green eyes stared into blue as the redhead reached up to catch the piece of pizza. Demyx burst out laughing, banging Zexion repeatedly on the shoulder; needless to say the silvery blue haired boy took on a slightly annoyed expression. Axel chewed, silently staring at the blond, who stared away from the fiery green gaze, at the wall. The redhead, however, could just about see that the corner of the other boys mouth was curled up, though twitching sporadically. Demyx calmed down finally, locking his arms around Zexions neck and rested his chin on top of the boys head, before proceeding to snap his gaze between the blond and the redhead.

"When did this even happen?" Axel spoke, changing the subject and drawing a heart in the air with his two index fingers, around the lovebirds. Roxas failed to hold back a snort at the action. Axel shot him a somewhat relieved smirk and looked back at the honey blond. But it was Zexion who answered.

"Yesterday evening." He said without taking his eyes from the page. Demyx simply nodded along, a lopsided smile on his face. The redhead raised his eyebr0ws as him and Roxas shared a look.

"Isn't it the bestest thing ever?" the honey blond sighed, eyes glazing over while, rather unexpectedly- at least to the boys on the couch- the blue haired boy lifted one of the honey blonds hands and kissed his wrist, affectionately, as he continued to read his book. Distantly, the speakers began feeding Obscured into the room. A small blue eyed blond glanced away, blushing, while a green eyed redhead frowned as he looked on.

"…like this time when Dem tripped over his own guitar or sitar or whatever lead and his Dr Pepper went all over Zex- and his book- Dem was hiding from Zex the rest of the entire night…" Roxas was only half listening to the redhead as he jabbered on. The blond couldn't shake the image of Demyx and Zexion from his head. They'd seemed so casual- no, comfortable- with each other, like they were completely content with it, not even trying to hide their new found relationship. Roxas couldn't help but simultaneously feel envious of and admiration for the two older boys.

"…Rox?" the blond looked up quickly, innocent blue eyes meeting hesitant green. They had reached Twilight Station, the clock tower loomed as tall as ever and the sunset hadn't quite started yet. "Do you…know that guy?" the blonds eyebrows pulled together in confusion, following the taller boys gaze half heartedly. His eyes landed on a familiar figure, which instantly began moving towards him. Roxas' breath caught somewhere in the back of his throat as the dark brown eyes sought out his own ocean blue.

"Tseng…" the blond managed to get out, swallowing hard. From the corner of his eye, he could see Axel scrutinising his face.

"I thought I'd find you here," the black haired boy said in his deep voice that sounded like melting chocolate- not that, that had a sound- as a tiny but knowing smile graced his lips.

"Yeah? Cool…" the blond smiled, despite his nerves. Then he caught the redheads expression and added on quickly, "Um, this is Axel- my best friend,"

"Nice to make your acquaintance," Tseng said politely while seemingly limiting his already rare smiles to the blond.

"Heya," Axel made a salute with a wink. "You remind me of a friend of mine- but hes closer to a mute- not that I'm calling you anti-social or anything," Roxas hoped that he was the only one to detect the false note, shuffling from foot to foot. The redheads and Tsengs eyes met for a long moment.

"I understand what you're saying," the dark haired boy replied eventually, rather mysteriously- or so Roxas thought. Tseng nodded once, sighed almost inaudibly and then turned back to the blond.

"Roxas," Tseng smiled wide-ish-ly at the boy before striding past, leaving.

"Will I see you again?" Roxas blurted out, a blush blooming on his cheeks. The dark pony-tailed boy paused before murmuring over his shoulder just loud enough to catch, "Perhaps," then he was gone. The small boy lowered his head, dejected. He almost regretted the kiss that Tseng had given him yesterday. Almost. Axel waited, uncharacteristically patient, for the blond to turn back towards the clock tower.

Once they had settled into their usual perches up on the stations clock tower, the redhead couldn't wait any longer.

"So, who's…er Seng- Sung- that guy?" Axel started, awkwardly.

"Tseng, T-S-E-N-G," the blond answered, looking out over the horizon.

"Yeah…I'll call him T-Seng," the redhead grinned as the blond shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I met him yesterday," Roxas paused only to gain a sly glimmer to his eyes and looked over at Axel, expression nonchalant. "He kissed me," Axel spluttered on the air, almost swinging his whole frame around to look at the blond, incredulous.

"You mean you're- YOU- are…gay?" Roxas couldn't contain his laughter while the redhead just stared, seemingly shell-shocked. Unfortunately this lead the older boy to assume the younger had been joking and began laughing along, warily. "For a minute there I thought you were being serious…man oh man," the blond halted from wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"I was." Silence.

"You're gay…" it wasn't a question; the redhead had sobered, watching the sunset wearing a half thoughtful, half intent expression. Roxas could see the pinks, purples and yellows of the sky reflected in Axels eyes, not quite blotting out the fierce emerald green.

"Guess so," the blond chuckled to himself, quietly.

"How come you didn't tell me, Rox?" Axel said after a long pause, glancing quickly at the person in question. Roxas shrugged.

"Well, I wasn't sure at first and then Tseng kissed me and I…just knew…" the blond shrugged again, turning away, unnoticed by the redhead, whose eyes were cast downwards. Unknown to the blond, Axels heart had filled with disappointment, leaving him cold.

"But we've been hanging out all day and you didn't say anything," 'You've been hiding it from me…'

"I…wasn't sure how you'd react…" Roxas lied, not meeting the other boys gaze, that was now on him.

"Its not like I was gonna think badly of you, Roxas- I'm gay myself! I mean really, it's like you don't trust me of something. We're best friends aren't we? At least I _thought_ we were," Axel had gotten increasingly angry but managed to keep somewhat composed. He lay down, folding his arms behind his head, only a deep frown hinting at his feelings. The blond watched him with large, worried blue eyes.

"We _are_ best friends- I do trust you- it's just…" Roxas began panicking, trying to think of a good, legitimate excuse that wasn't, 'Because I'm gay for you!' He cringed mentally before speaking. "Its still kinda hard for me…to get used to…I didn't think I could say it out loud at all before but…" deep breath. "I am…gay." The blond sighed heavily, looking almost tired suddenly. Axel finally looked at Roxas, anger disappearing in seconds and being replaced with guilt…and something else. He sighed.

"Rox, look, I'm sorry," the redhead began, sitting back up and looked into the blonds eyes with an apologetic smile on his lips. "I didn't mean what I said-"

"Forget about it," Roxas cut him off with a quick shake of his head. What the blond had said might have been half true but he still felt bad having Axel apologise to him. "Friends?" the redhead took the blonds outstretched hand after a beat. Partially amused emerald eyes steadily holding relieved ocean blue ones. Little did they know that in that moment variations of the same thought passed through both their minds.

'Back to square one…'

'Just friends again…'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

"…Out?"

"…In,"

"Out!"

"In."

"OUT."

"In!"

"What are you two doing?" Seifer sneered as he walked, surprisingly casually, into Roxas' bedroom, pulling Fujin along with him.

"What do you care?" the golden haired boy asked rhetorically, still glaring at the redhead. The redhead simply stuck his tongue out at the blond.

"I don't…Tell me anyway," Seifer smirked slinging an arm around the silvery grey haired girl, who responded by automatically curling into his side. The past two days, Axel and Roxas had just hung out at Zexions, watching each other with longing in their eyes when they thought the other wasn't looking and cringing or shying away from the honey blond and the blue haired boy whenever they started making out. It was Saturday day lunchtime now and the two friends had been bickering about whether they were going to eat in or go out to Tram Common.

"Nothing much- we're gonna go grab a bite to eat-" Axel began, eyes never leaving Roxas.

"_No_, we're staying in." the blond ground out, cutting the redhead off.

"You two are like an old married couple. Ain't that right, Fuu?" the pale blond sniggered.

"AFFIRMATIVE." The girl in question replied, face unchanging.

"We do not," the blond scowled, a light blush warming his cheeks as he finally turned to look at his brother. The redhead rolled his eyes before stretching and heading for the door, as Seifer pulled Fujin out and into his own bedroom. "Axel?"

"Hurry up, Rox, I'm hungry," Axel said, leaning on the door frame. The blond seethed for a moment and then reluctantly, gave in with a groan. The redhead grinned from ear to ear, doing a little victory dance.

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah…"

"Shut it," Roxas warned, pointing a finger at the other boy. The redhead finished with a clumsy spin and fist pump to the air above his head. The small boy smirked briefly at his friend before pushing the skeletal boy ahead of him out of the door and then the house.

Sometime later when they'd finished their chippie lunch, the two boys were sat on a bench in the Sandlot, sharing a whole chocolate cheesecake, greedily.

"Mmm, this has got to be the best," Axel commented, spooning out a large bit, and carefully trying to keep it balanced on the way to his mouth. Roxas watched this half wanting to roll his eyes and half wanting to be the one to spoon it into his mouth.

"No way, lemon cheesecake is the best," he insisted, finally managing to tear his gaze away as something caught his eye. There was a tall blond that Roxas vaguely recognised fallout running across the square with a half crazed half desperate look on his face. He was wearing a navy short sleeved shirt over a grey tank top, black three quarter length shorts and too-big high top trainers. The small blond thought he could see light blue eyes but his concentration was caught on the long tattoo that ran down one side of his face and the hair style that consisted of being slicked back apart from the front, which was gelled straight up and slightly spiked.

"Only three hot dogs left- better hurry!" Axel shouted after the boy, who didn't stop, only lifted a hand to show he'd heard. The redhead chuckled lowly before shaking his head at the other boy, "Don't ask," and going back to the cheesecake.

"Alright," Roxas shrugged, doing the same. About ten minutes later the strange boy walked back into the square. He dragged his feet, head bent low, looking as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Still no hot dog?" Axel asked, with a sympathetic expression on his face, which the small boy wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. The hot dog boy stopped, letting out a deep breath before straightening up.

"You watch, I'll make next time. I will!" he flashed the boys a determined grin before nodding and continuing on.

"Atta boy, Zell," the redhead saluted as Roxas raised his eyebrows.

"I don't wanna know, do I?" the blond asked as he walked over to dump the empty cheesecake tray in the nearby bin. The older boy stood and placed a hand on the younger boys shoulder.

"You just…wouldn't understand…" he answered dramatically, turning his head and closing his eyes as if in pain for a second, before giving him a hit on the back. "Come on, Rox," Roxas glanced at the grinning redhead.

"Where are we going now?"

"Hmm…I guess we could see what Zex and Dem are up to…yeah?"

"Whatever," the blond shrugged, vaguely. "Hey, Axel, you never said how your date went…"

"Didn't happen," the redhead answered, casually. "Riku cancelled and then later that night he rang saying he didn't wanna lead me on and that he was in love with his best friend Sora- I wished him good luck with that," he laughed, rubbing at the side of his neck.

"Good luck," the blond repeated, looking at the ground.

"He'll need a lot more than that," Axel muttered, almost to himself. But Roxas heard and nodded in agreement, silently.

When they reached the shop, Axel rang the bell beside the door that led up to Zexions flat before pausing.

"Do you think maybe…they're…busy…?" Axel asked the blond, who stared at him in confusion. "I mean they'd be down here, wouldn't they- if they weren't…busy…" Roxas was about to ask what his friend was talking about, when the door opened to reveal Zexion. He wore a baggy long sleeved top, sporting Daft Punk, which Axel recognised as Demyxs. But his dark skinny jeans were secure enough to assume the couple were not…busy. The blond stared at the redhead, who sighed in relief.

"Hello, come in," the silvery blue haired boy said simple, motioning for them to enter.

"Who is it, Zexy?" they heard Demyx yell as they reached the top of the stairs and entered the main space of the flat. "Oh, hey guys!" glancing around, the redhead saw the honey blond standing in front of the stove in the kitchen area.

"Heya, Dem," the redhead responded lifting a hand as Zexion hurried back over to his lover and the food cooking on the stove. The blond simply smiled before turning to the visitor who had come to stand in front of them. Axels eyes widened in surprise and delight, his mouth opening before shifting into a grin.

"Vincent!" the redhead put a hand on the boys shoulder, who mimicked it almost instantly with an amused expression on his pale face.

"Axel, it's been a while," Vincent said in a velvety voice that held the potential for huskiness. The blond took in the boy with the slim body- almost identical to Axels and the same height- he had deep red-tinted brown eyes and jet black short-ish hair that fell over one half of his forehead, getting in his eye every so often. There was something about him, the way he held himself, which reminded Roxas of Tseng.

"Vincent, Roxas. Roxas, Vincent," Axel said after releasing the black haired boy and gestured between the two.

"Uh, hi," the small blond swallowed, suddenly nervous. Just like Tseng, Vincent was incredibly darkly attractive, maybe more so but not necessarily.

"Hello, Roxas," the black haired boy said, never losing the amused expression as he brought his eyes down to meet Roxas'. The blond smiled genuinely up at the dark eyes, that if he looked hard enough, he could see held warmth.

"So what's cooking?" Axel asked no one, smirking to himself as he pulled an arm around Roxas' shoulders and guided him to the sofa. The blond leant back over the back so he could see what was happening in the kitchen. Zexion appeared to be rather easily multi-tasking between stirring the food in the wok and preventing Demyx- who was attempting to 'help'- from destroying the kitchen.

"Dem, get over here and put some music on," Axel interjected as he wandered over to glimpse the food. The honey blond pouted slightly and then stomped over to the stereo system. The smaller blond laughed lightly before quieting down when Demyx shot him a look. Vincent, who had his arms crossed loosely and was leaning against the dining table, chuckled lowly. Roxas paused momentarily when he noticed the black haired boys clothes for the first time. He wore navy blue slacks over polished black shoes, his off white shirt was still tucked in but the matching navy blue tie had been loosened. The suit jacket that was most definitely his, had been slung over the back of one of the dining table chairs. 'Must be older than he looks' the blond reasoned as the redhead slouched back over, coming to stand by Vincent.

"So, what's new?" he asked Vincent, leaning his head on the boys shoulder and closing his eyes. Somehow, the blond couldn't bring himself to feel jealous as Vincent's hand came up to stroke back the red spikes of Axels hair. Instead he just smiled.

"Not much," the black haired boy replied, before sinking into a more formal tone of voice without seeming to notice. "I've been assigned the protection of a group of scientists, recently, however," Vincent paused, as if considering this.

"Yeah?" the redhead prompted.

"That sounds important," Zexion offered from his place by the stove, as Demyx came to stand on Vincent's other side, having put on what sounded like the Chemical Brothers.

"Hmmm, I am to accompany them to a town in the middle of nowhere to continue their work, safely. They briefed me on a need to know basis, I am to guard them until further notice…" he trailed off, deep in thought.

"That'll be a cakewalk for you, Vince," Demyx encouraged, breaking the silence, smiling widely.

"I guess so…" Frowning, Axel lifted his head to look at the black haired boy. "I just…have a bad feeling…" Vincent shook himself once and then cleared his face, pulling his lips up into a smile. Roxas looked just as uncertain as the rest of the boys for a minute before Zexion spoke.

"Dinners ready."

Later that night Axel sat with Roxas on the latter's front lawn, looking up at the stars. The evening with Vincent and the others had zoomed passed, much to the redheads disappointment. Axel had felt the uncomfortable feeling of foreboding from the moment the black haired boy had begun speaking of his new assignment. Vincent was leaving in a few days and with his own leaving next Sunday, he couldn't quite rid himself of anxiety.

"…Axel?" the said person snapped out of his thoughts to look at the blond. "What's wrong?"

"Huh- oh, nothing," he ruffled the blonds hair playfully before leaning back and bracing himself on his hands.

"There's obviously something bothering you," Roxas continued, persistent.

"Hey, Roxas," Axel started, keeping his emerald eyes on the night sky, anywhere but the ocean blue orbs burning a hole in the side of his face. "Will you come and visit me when I move?"

"Do you want me to?" the blond asked, suddenly shy but it had worked and the younger boy lowered his gaze. Axel breathed out mentally before continuing with the conversation.

"Sure, of course!" the redhead said, quickly shooting the blond a grin before turning his head so that he wouldn't get caught in the eyes. "I expect you to come see me every weekend- and during holidays," he added, taking on a commanding tone. Roxas scoffed at the other boy before rolling his eyes.

"Wait- why can't you come visit me sometime?" the blond narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow- yes it is possible. "Plus Demyx and Zexion are here too,"

"Way, too much effort," Axel chided, dramatically falling back fully on the grass. Roxas laughed at the redhead before looking back up at the stars.

"Lazy," was all he said. A comfortable silence fell then, allowing Axels mind to wander back to his previous thoughts, undisturbed.

"Do you ever feel like…" the blond hesitated, not entirely sure what he wanted to say. The redhead looked at the golden spikes covering the back of the other boys head and waited. "That there's only a limited time left on your life…?" the boy finished, awkwardly.

"Yeah, it's called looking mortality in the face, Rox," Axel smiled, patiently.

"No, I didn't mean like that, I…" the blond paused again with a frustrated sigh. The redhead propped himself up on his elbows, silently willing the small boy to look at him so he could read his feelings. "Sometimes, I get this feeling like…I feel empty…and then I get this feeling that I've only got until the end of summer and after all that all that awaits me is…that strange never-ending emptiness…" Roxas' voice faded away as he stared down at his hands folded in his lap. Axel felt a chill creep up his spine as he gazed intently at the blond. There was a long moment where everything seemed to fall away, leaving the two boys frozen in place and an almost suffocating silence descended. Then it broke apart as quickly as it had come and Axel shuddered.

"Well, of course! I wont be here," the redhead attempted to joke, it sounded distorted and false as he reached up to rub the side of his neck, nervously. He'd felt the same way earlier on with Vincent, except this was a hundred times worse. He felt like the small blond boy was going far away from him and he had to physically restrain himself from reaching out for the blond and never letting go. What made it worse was that the boy wasn't going anywhere, it was Axel that was leaving in a week but even so, the older boy had a nauseous feeling like he'd been drawn into a nightmare in which no matter how fast he pushed his legs, he couldn't get to Roxas, who walked mind-splittingly casually paced not ten feet in front of him.

"…Axel…you okay…sorry…forget I said…Axel!"

The redheads eyes focused then, green slicing into blue. Roxas' face was close, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as Axel gripped his head roughly, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Axel, what's wrong?" he heard the blond ask, voice frantic now. The older boy tried to sit up; he felt the warm pressure of the blonds hand on his arm, helping him. But the world was spinning out of control, his vision blurred and the last thing he heard was someone gasping for breath.

'I think I had a dream. A dream, of being alone…"

"Poor thing, has he been eating properly? He's as skinny as a rake,"

"Are you going to call his mum?"

"Of course, darling…I'll be right back,"

"Axel…please wake up…"

"What's going on here?"

"He just…fainted- it's nothing serious…"

"Whatever you say, Dr Sloan,"

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

"Exactly,"

"Seifer, there's some left overs in the fridge for you, darling,"

"What did she say- is she coming over?"

"No, he's staying put. His mother said it happens every so often; he has a weak heart,"

"Weak heart?"

"He was born premature. But you don't need to worry, my dear, Axel will feel better once he wakes up,"

"…Okay. We should move him to my room,"

"Seifer, sweetheart?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's do this,"

"Ready?"

"Be careful now; don't drop the poor boy,"

"On three. One. Two."

"Three,"

Axel opened his eyes, warily. He didn't want to see that endless black again. His heart prickled before relaxing as his eyes adjusted to the dark space that began to take the form of a very familiar bedroom. He blinked a few times and then looked around him. There; the sleeping blonds head rested on the bed next to the redhead, his body bent in a sitting position on the edge of his desk chair. Axel let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, reaching out a hesitant hand to stroke the blonds hair in a gently rhythm. Too soon the redhead was forced to retract his hand as the smaller boy began to stir. Roxas turned his head to look up at his friend. For a moment the sleepy blond just smiled, before pausing and realised that the other boy was, in fact, awake and staring at him.

"Oh, you're awake," slowly the worry and concern returned to the blue eyed boys face, that mere seconds ago had been clear and peaceful in sleep.

"What happened?" Axel whispered, not taking his eyes off the small boy, from fear he would disappear.

"You…basically fainted," Roxas answered, shifting uncomfortably; the blond had never seen his best friend vulnerable before and the sudden revelation didn't do much to calm his nerves. He would have done anything to have the normal confident, smirking, enthusiastic Axel back.

"Really? That's all- you're sure?" the redhead sounded panicked even to his own ears, but he didn't have the time to blush about it.

"Yeah, Axel, why?" the blond tried to understand the fear in the other boys eyes but the redhead chose then to finally break eye contact. Roxas put the bedside lamp on, so that he could better scrutinise the older boys face.

"Nothing," Axel sighed, straightening up into a sitting position. "It was…just a dream." The redhead closed his eyes momentarily, and then looked back at Roxas with a reassuring smile plastered on his face. Which failed to reassure.

"What was the dream about?"

"Nothing, really. It was just dark, made me feel a bit claustrophobic- what's the time?" the redhead yawned, still not meeting the blonds gaze.

"2:23- in the morning," Roxas sighed, rubbing at his temples.

"Wha…? I'm going back to sleep," the redhead curled up on his side, his hand hesitating over the lamp switch. "Wanna share…?" the smaller boy just shook his head, before getting to his feet and quietly exiting the room. Axel stared at the door for a couple minutes, trying to smother the rising feeling of hurt. He breathed in and out once before turning off the lamp and settling back in, allowing his eyes to fall shut.

_Axel glanced around him, enjoying the cool breeze that was filtering the stifling heat beaming down from the sun. He was in a park and his friends surrounded him, although it was like he was simultaneously there in his body and having an out of body experience. The redhead attempted to fight the alien feeling off to no avail. He shifted as he tried to tune in to what was going on around him. Everyone was laughing, seemingly at Axel himself, but he couldn't think why._

_"Axel," someone whispered in an eerily deep voice. The dreaming boy looked up to see a man floating a short ways away. He was staring down at Axel, expressionless. The boy felt a stab of recognition the longer he regarded the man with the man with the crow- black hair, wildly flowing past his shoulders and the crimson headband that did anything but keep his hair out of his face, as was proven by the thick locks, falling over the band on one side. The naturally pale face had faded into deathly pale and the once only red-tinted brown eyes were now piercing garnet stones, which jumped out at the redhead._

_"You are not dreaming…the outside world, that which you call 'reality' is the illusion…" Axel started to panic as the man, who looked like his friend but couldn't possibly be his friend, boomed down at him. The redhead tried to speak, but any and every word that formed on his tongue ended up choked at the back of his throat. He lifted his hands to his neck, instinctively._

_"Wake up…" the stranger whispered, tonelessly._

_Frantically, the redhead turned to his friends- that were still laughing at him- to find that their faces had blurred and contorted beyond recognition. The only way Axel knew who was who was by their clothes and hair but he couldn't seem to break his gaze from what was left of their face, a look of terror frozen on his face._

_'Somebody! Help me! Please!' the words caught and burned throughout his throat, never making it past his lips. The boy desperately tried to move, to get away as tears began to run relentlessly down his face, but he was hit again by the feeling that he was both experiencing this and watching it from the outside; he couldn't move. Suddenly the real Vincent came towards him- Axel almost wanted to sigh in relief, when he saw that the other boys face was still intact._

_"Why did you let this happen?!" the black haired boy demanded, eyes unfocused, voice shaking slightly. The redhead stared in wide eyed confusion. He involuntarily glanced back over to the imposter-Vincent who was no longer floating and was slowly advancing on the redhead._

_"Nothing you believe to be real is real…" the deep voice said at almost the same time as the higher, less matured voice started repeating the same question in a seemingly endless loop, as Axel snapped his head between the two entities. The surroundings warped into the same endless black as before and what looked like blood began raining down._

_"Wake up…" the imposter purred again, as he got closer and closer to the frightened boy who couldn't stop crying._

_'Roxas, help me!' the redhead tried to scream through his sobs; he squeezed his eyes shut. Somewhere to his right, he could hear the black haired boy begin babbling nonsensically, his voice breaking and cracking between tiny gulps and gasps._

_"Why didn't you help me, Axel? I thought we were friends. Like brothers…you were the only one there for me when my father died. Why didn't you help me, Ax? I _told_ you I had a bad feeling! I always get these feelings, intuition- whatever. You know that. We've been friends for years and I've always had these feelings- bad feelings. Where were you? Axel, my dearest friend…who's always there for me- how could you let this happen?! I'm not even human anymore- that's what you let them do to me! Not even human…a monster…"_

_'Shut up, shut up, shut up!'_

_"Axel..." the deep voice breathed._

_'Leave me alone!'_

_"You don't exist…you were never supposed to exist…"_

_'This is just a dream, it's not real, it's just a really bad dream…'_

_After a minute, the redhead realised his thoughts were the only sound filling his head. He listened, hesitant as he waited to see if either Vincent or the imposter spoke. Axels heart pounded violently in his chest for three whole minutes before he opened his eyes. Emerald green met garnet for half a second before another voice sifted into the redheads ear, in a soft whisper._

"Axel…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Axel? Axel!" the said person immediately threw himself back sharply into the head board, away from the grasping hands.

"Get back!" the terrified boy shouted, voice cracking.

"Axel, it's me, Roxas- you're okay, everything's okay," the small blond boy slowly swam into focus as the redheads heartbeat began to slow. The older boy cast his eyes around the room, nervously before glancing down at himself. He was in the same clothes as the day before and they were damp with sweat. Axel tried to swallow as the tears that had been streaming down his face, subsided. He reached up to wipe his eyes on the sleeve of his tight fitting white and grey striped top. The redhead half collapsed back onto the bed, throwing an arm over his face. He knew the blond could probably see the light tremor still coursing through his body but he didn't care.

"Talk to me, Axel," Roxas murmured, tone laced with concern. The redhead just worked to forget those blank, blood red eyes, concentrating on his breathing. "Fine. I think its time for you to go home," the pointedness in the blonds voice was clear to the older boy but he knew he'd only said it to try and get Axel to talk. The redhead sighed and finally removed the arm from his face, eyes seeking out the pouty blond.

"Roxas…it was just a bad dream- what's to tell?"

"I don't know," the blond breathed out. "…But if there's anything you need to talk about, I'll always be here," the redhead didn't reply, he just returned the gently smile. Blue eyes holding green.

The following night, the friends were gathered at Sunset Terrace. The Summer Festival was still going on down in Tram Common, on Market Street and, in the Sandlot where an unofficial Struggle tournament had broken out between two guys. The young one with the side parted, shoulder length dark hair and the soft green eyes- who Zexion, surprisingly, had found 'cute', much to Demyxs jealously- had apparently suffered a leg cramp which had resulted in him stumbling into the older man- with the reddish-brown hair fashioned with a headband, and the eyes of the same colour- and stepped on his foot. The younger of the two, who it turned out, was called Laguna, stuttered out an apology. However the older man, named Jecht, had demanded some sort of 'chance to get even' and the next thing they'd engaged in a heated game of Struggle. The boys had stayed to watch the first match- Jecht had won, although Laguna hadn't gone down lightly- and then wandered up to catch the sunset, while other townspeople struck up matches between themselves.

"As promised…" Axel presented each of his friends with a bar of sea-salt ice-cream each.

"You're the best, Ax," Demyx exclaimed in delight, while his boyfriend simply murmured a genuine "Thank you," Vincent laughed and shook his head, although Axel had been avoiding his gaze all day. He hoped the older boy hadn't noticed, though he doubted it.

"Thanks, Axel," the short blond had smiled up at the redhead; he'd sat close to his bestfriend, enough that their arms brushed but the redhead assumed he was probably the only one –hyperly- aware of this.

"Sure thing, Rox," Axel grinned, turning back to the orange sky. All was quiet for about five minutes as the boys ate their ice-creams and watched the day come to its end. The redhead thought he sensed Vincents eyes a couple times and caught Roxas' once. The blond had shifted his gaze immediately, causing the redhead to raise an eyebrow. After a while, Axel got to his feet and moved a little away from the group, motioning with a nod of his head for Vincent to follow. Wordlessly, the dark haired boy stood up.

"Are…you okay? Axel?" the two boys sat together on the floor, half watching Demyxs antics. Roxas was lying down on the bench the redhead had been sharing with him, eyes on the sky above.

"It's nothing really, I just…I don't want you to go, V.V.," the redhead laughed mirthlessly, trying to hide the seriousness of his request. Red-tinted brown met vivid green for a long pause before the older boy answered.

"It's my job, Red," the person in question felt the backs of his eyes prick at the sound of his nickname- that belonged only to Vincent- but he swallowed hard and ignored it.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just that, well, I have a bad feeling too…" Axel pouted slightly and fluttered his eyelashes. "Can't you ask if someone else can go with you? Pleeeaase, for me?"

"Already did," the black haired boy chuckled, nudging his friend playfully. "They said they are 'confident in my abilities and that modesty is a characteristic best thrown away' when joining a company such as theirs."

"You wanna know what I think? You should get a new job," the redhead declared, placing his hands on his hips. The other boy laughed, rewarding himself a triumphant grin from Axel. "Got it memorised?"

"Don't worry; you're already immortal in _my_ memories," the black haired boy sent the other a knowing look. The redhead leant his head on Vincents shoulder.

"Hey, V.V.,"

"…Red?"

"You're immortal in mine, too,"

The next day was Tuesday and Roxas was enjoying a long luxurious lie-in. The previous night had ended on an emotional note as the boys had said their goodbyes to Vincent, who was heading back home to prepare for his 'assignment'. Demyx had balled loud enough to grab the attention of passersby on the street. Zexion had taken on a rather mournful expression as he rubbed his boyfriends back in a soothing circular motion. Axel seemed to be trying to brave it out but Roxas saw the older boy swipe quickly at his face when the tears finally escaped. Without thinking, the small blond had stepped close and slipped his hand into the other boys. For a moment as the blond curled up in bed, he revelled in the memory of Axels hand returning the pressure without hesitating. The blond yawned and rolled onto his back lazily, feeling the heat of the sun shining in through the window, onto his face. Roxas almost jumped up out of bed when his mobile began vibrating noisily against the hard surface of his desk. He threw his covers back eagerly, and went for his phone.

"Hello?"

"What are you doing, still in bed, mister?" came the familiar drawl, the blond had longed for just moments ago.

"Technically, I'm not in bed…" he replied, aiming for casual.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," the blond laughed, rolling his ocean blue eyes. "I've been bored all morning- waiting for you to get up!"

"Uh…well I'm up now…" the blond shrugged even though the redhead couldn't see him.

"Well, get dressed already!"

"I can't if I'm on the phone to you, Ax,"

"Don't you roll your eyes at me," the blond scoffed but allowed his friend to continue. "Alright, meet you out front in half an hour, Rox," the redhead hung up the phone before the blond could protest. After a pause Roxas half ran to the bathroom to take a fifteen minute shower; back in his room, he roughly tugged on a grey t-shirt and slid into baggy black and khaki pants. He'd towel dried his hair the best he could, not bothering to comb it.

The blond found Axel lounging against the low brick wall outside his house.

"About time," the redhead said as he straightened up and turned to the other boy; the metal bar in his eyebrow, glistened in the sunlight. He was dressed in a short sleeved black shirt that had a simple red outline of a chakram on it and white skinny jeans. On his feet were the pair of blue and green high top converses that matched Roxas' own. Although the ones the blond wore were low tops.

"…You know those, don't really go…" Roxas pointed out, gesturing first to the converses and then to the redheads shirt.

"They don't have to, these…" he paused to raise his right foot and swing it around a bit- demonstrating the fact that he was talking about the shoes. "Have sentimental value, right? So it doesn't matter when you wear them or _what_ you wear them with,"

"Whatever you say," the blond shrugged as they started down the road. "Where are we going today?" the redhead slowed down slightly.

"Uh…where do you wanna go?" he said eventually as the blond resisted the urge to laugh.

"You don't have a plan for today?" Roxas was mildly surprised. Usually if there wasn't anything in particular that Axel wanted to do, he'd turn up at the house and they'd hang out, playing videogames or watching films. The blond studied his best friend, who seemed to be frowning in concentration. It was then that the smaller boy noticed the dark shadows beneath his eyes.

"I kinda just wanna be around…people, today," the redhead said, flashing a playful grin at the blond. It looked more self-conscious to the blue eyed boy but he just smiled back, trying to devoid his face of the worry that was twisting uncomfortably in his stomach. "So, what do you wanna do today, Rox?"

"Well, we could go to the park, I guess," Roxas suggested lamely. However, this seemed to be the wrong answer. Axel almost stopped dead in his tracks and his look of concentration seemed to be working overtime. 'He's trying to conceal his emotions…why?'

"How about we check out Market Street?" the redhead replied as if the blond hadn't spoken.

"I thought it was my choice? Why don't you want to go to the park?"

"I told you. I wanna be around people today," blue eyes finally caught green and the former noted the pleading edge of the latter. Roxas wasn't sure whether he should push his friend for an explanation or let it go. Emerald snapped away from ocean blue as if reading his train of thoughts. Roxas swiftly stepped into Axels path, facing him head on.

"This is about the bad dreams you've been having, isn't it?" the older boy noticeably flinched but didn't move.

"So?" he replied warily. Roxas sighed. He thought about taking it further, demanding that Axel let him in and tell him what was wrong.

"Fine. Lets go to Market Street," the blond all but stormed off in the direction of their new destination, letting the topic drop for the second time. Axel followed a couple steps behind, the silence he radiated was so loud it was driving the blond crazy. But he didn't say anything.

Somewhere behind the smaller boy, the taller one murmured an inaudible, "Thanks, Rox,"

Elsewhere, Zexion was getting rather better at keeping his patience around Demyx.

"Zexy! You should totally get this- its awesome!" ignoring the weird looks and stares- which was getting easier and easier to do- the blue haired boy book marked his page and walked over to his honey blond boyfriend. "What d'ya think?" the shorter boy cast his eyes over the white t-shirt with the simple blue design of what looked like a guitar on it. He absently lifted his arm to stroke softly at the taller boys neck, earning himself a contented sigh.

"I do not play the guitar, love," he replied mildly.

"It's a sitar! And it doesn't matter because I DO; so every time you wear it you'll think of me! Come on, Zexy! Pleeaase?" the blond pouted and widened his eyes effectively. It worked; the blue haired boy rolled his eyes- or eye- and carefully took the top from his lover.

"Yeah! Right on! I love you so much right now," the blond exclaimed happily, winning himself a snort from the other boy and a couple more strange looks. Not two seconds after leaving the shop- Demyx obliviously yapping on about sitars- something whirled violently passed them. And a second after that, another form came zooming passed, leaving the two looking on in confusion. The second form was an average height black haired boy with sky-blue eyes. His hair was longish and spiked, slightly reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Hey, wait up, Tseng!" the boy shouted breathlessly towards the other one, who it seemed- at least, to Zexion- was pretty intent on getting away from the slightly hyper spiky haired boy. Demyx appeared to be ogling at the younger looking one, while the blue haired boy marvelled at the lean body of the pony-tailed boy with the intensely hot dark eyes and strange mark on his forehead.

"Aww, they're cute," the honey blond commented as the couple watched the two boys disappear from sight.

"We're cute," Zexion stated, turning back to his boyfriend.

"Too right, we are!" the honey blond agreed, hooking his arm around the others waist enthusiastically. Zexion tossed Demyx the smile reserved only for him before they continued on, over to Sunset Terrace.

"I miss Vince, already," Demyx sighed as he leant his head on Zexions shoulder. The blue haired boy simply placed a feather light kiss on the others forehead and continued to run his right hand through the blonds hair. "You're not gonna leave here anytime soon, are you?"

"I'm not going anywhere." the silvery blue haired boy answered, gazing over the town. The other boy sighed and snuggled into his side. "What about you?" he asked, uncharacteristically hesitant.

"No way! I love it here! I could stay here forever…" the honey blond replied, pulling closer. Zexion exhaled slowly before allowing his features to relax into a look of content that would undoubtedly match his lovers.

"You know," Roxas glanced up at the redhead, chewing on the last piece of his chicken wrap. "That kid has potential. Although it's hard to say about his personality- he's a perfectly spoilt brat!" the small blond choked on his food.

"Paedo," the blond snorted out before following his friends gaze to a little boy with crazily gelled hair- at least Roxas _thought_ it was gelled. Its colour was baby blue and consisted of three angular clumps of hair, seemingly gelled thick enough so that they stuck up and bent at right angles, curving down to spiked points. Two were positioned towards the back on either side of his head and the third was shorter and hung to the right, in front of his face. The latter had an additional bend in it, but it was the others that Roxas couldn't believe had been moulded with gel- maybe superglue. They could almost be compared to antlers. The kids pale blue eyes, sanctioned below a forehead sporting vine like tattoos of the same colour, were glistening with tears as he looked up at presumably, his mother. Roxas noticed straight away that the boys mother was very much ordinary looking- the blond was surprised to be disappointed by this sudden return to normality. It soon resurfaced, however, when he glanced back at the womans son.

"Please, Mother, its my birthday and I want an ice-cream…" Sniff, sniff. Gasp. Hiccup.

Roxas supposed the boy was kind of cute if you got passed the hair…he continued to watch the youngish woman with the shoulder length dark hair, attempting to pacify her son. The fact that her hair was threaded with grey was the only abnormal thing about her. The eyes were the same crystal blue as the boys but they were full of something like sympathy as she gazed down at the crying boy. To the blond, it was as though the sadness within her eyes was because of something else entirely.

"Man oh man…but SO adorable," Axel commented, breaking into the other boys thoughts. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I kinda feel bad for his mum though…" the blond replied, turning back to his friend and reaching for his bottle of Sprite.

"Wha…? I don't know about that- come on! It's one pocksy ice-cream- and it's his birthday," the redhead protested, raising his eyebrows. "My mum always spoilt me on my birthday! No matter what- even if I was being a brat,"

"I'm not surprised…" the blond retorted, looking back at the young boy. He seemed to have stopped crying now and he reached up to wipe his eyes on his sleeves. The boys mother had squatted down to his level.

"See, there's no need to cry, Seymour," the woman spoke in hushed but soothing tones. "Now where's that smile of yours?" the baby blue haired boy remained passive but took his mothers offered hand without hesitating. Mother and son smiled genuinely at one another before they headed out of the shop; the sadness never quite left her eyes though.

"…are you listening?"

"Huh, oh um, sorry," the redhead shot the blond a frustrated look in response to his apologetic one.

"…It doesn't matter," the green eyed boy sighed, staring out of the window with a glum look on his face.

"No, no. Tell me," the blond prompted quickly.

"Nah…say, I'm in the mood for ice-cream now- what d'ya say?" and before the blond had time to reply, the redhead was out of his chair, making his way to the door.

"Damn," the blond muttered as he sprinted after his friend. 'What were you going to say, Axel?'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

The next afternoon Roxas waited for Axel on the station platform, so that they could go into the city, grab some sea-salt ice-cream and watch the sunset from their usual spot. The blond stood as soon as he glimpsed the redhead sauntering up the stone steps.

"Hey, Axel," the blond greeted him, eyeing the plastic bag in the redheads hand. "What's that?"

"Oh this? It's nothing, so, you been waiting long?" the taller boy answered.

"No, I just got here," Roxas lied, blue eyes avoiding green. The redhead scrutinised his face for an indecent amount of time. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. The blond glanced away the first chance he got, prickling at the colour no doubt glowing on his cheeks. Axel smiled to himself before sighing, seeming almost dejected. The small boy peeked at his friends face a couple times while they waited for the train in silence. The third time ocean blue met side long emerald green. The latter lit with curiosity on impact as the former froze in place. However, fortunately- for Roxas- the movement of the train pulling into the station broke the connection.

"Train's here," the blond announced, straining his voice to keep it even, without looking at the other boy.

"Alright," the small boy couldn't help but smile at the redheads enthusiastic tone as they boarded the train, side by side. Eventually the blond sensed the redheads mood relapse but he couldn't bring himself to feel glad that he was now free of the other boys attention. By the time the two boys were perched in their usual places at the top of the Clock Tower, Roxas couldn't bare the silence anymore.

"Red or blue." Axel, started out of his thoughts looked over at his best friend. The blond held his gaze unflinchingly and the corners of the redheads mouth lifted at the small pout gracing the blond boys face.

"Black, I guess," the green eyed boy finally replied, with a shrug.

"Depressed?" the blond asked, frowning.

"Nah, nothing like that…exactly…more like, black in the sense that I'm feeling every colour all mixed up at the moment- I don't know what I'm feeling, if that makes any sense…" the redhead stared thoughtfully over the horizon.

"I know what you mean," the blond said simply, looking down at his clasped hands.

"You know, this whole time we've been hanging out like nothings changed- like I'm leaving in a few days…we should be making the most of it…" Axel sounded the most serious Roxas had ever heard him, but he was only half surprised, given the words he'd said. The blond was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Heh, I don't know, maybe I'm just over dramatising it…" Axel rubbed at the side of his neck.

"No- you're right. We should be making the most of it. After all…there's only four days left of summer break…" the friends were silent again for a few minutes, staring their nearing separation in the face.

"So, Axel, what is the thing you want to do most, right now?" Roxas inquired, placing a carefree smile on his face. Axel, on the other hand, blushed. Just a trace of pink along his cheekbones, but Roxas noticed immediately. He raised an eyebrow.

"Umm…" the redhead looked to the right, away from the blonds inquisitive expression as he leant back on his hands.

"We could all go to the beach…? We haven't been all summer," the blond suggested. "Anything you want. Within reason, though," he added, smirking at the flash of the redheads eyes.

"Within reason, huh? That sounds about right," Roxas frowned slightly, not quite understanding the other boys tone. "You know, I know I brought this up and everything but…the truth is, all I wanna do is hang out with you. And the others…man I'm stupid," the tall boy laughed and shook his head. The blond smiled to himself, committing the sound to memory. The blond and the redhead stayed there, on top of the clock tower, talking like they always did. When the sky changed from dusk to night, they simply took up stargazing, lying on their backs and using their arms as pillows. The blond turned his head slightly to study his friends face. The green of Axels eyes were illuminated, contrasting with the pale skin that also shone brighter in the moonlight. His fiery mane, however, was dimmed, and the tattoos beneath his eyes looked weirdly more like the shadows of dancing flames.

"Roxas," the boy sighed, without taking his eyes off the glimmering stars above. "Don't do that,"

"Do what?" the blond reddened, mentally cursing himself for sounding indignant as he snapped his eyes away.

"Look at me like you're never gonna see me again," the redhead explained in a depressed tone. Now it was Roxas' turn to sigh.

"Sorry…" Axel closed his eyes then, trying to slow his pulse rate. "I…can't help it,"

"You almost sound like you'll miss me," the redhead tried to sound bright, sending the blond a triumphant grin.

"Of course I'm going to miss you!" the blond pouted, eyebrows furrowed. "I…you're my best friend, Ax,"

"Come on, you'll replace me soon enough. Probably with a cute little blond girl," the redhead attempted to joke, but it came out sounding false not only to himself.

"No one could ever replace you," the blond said quietly, fixing his gaze on the sky. Axel watched him for a long moment, revelling in the storm brewing behind the ocean blue eyes, before making a decision.

"You'll meet someone new and forget all about me. But me, I'd never forget you,"

"How can you say that? You're describing exactly how it will be for me. I'm just a nobody, but you- everybody loves you, Axel." Roxas was struggling to keep his voice even.

"…Even you?" the redhead couldn't help but ask, even though he was sure the blond only 'loved' him in a platonic, best friend sense. He just wanted to hear it, just once. The blond shot him a quick glance before scowling, when he detected the blood rushing to face. 'He looks…nervous…?' Axel continued to stare at his friend, waiting.

"Yeah, sure…I love you. Axel." The redhead let his eyes fall closed, glad that the blond wasn't looking at him. The taller boy helplessly fooled himself for just a few seconds that Roxas had meant a certain other kind of love and then he let the fantasy float away on the breath he released. When he opened his eyes, the blond was looking at him. Swallowing, he shifted his gaze.

"Oh! Almost forgot!" Axel reached to his side and picked up the plastic bag he'd brought with him. "What colour d'ya think I should go?" the abrupt change in the atmosphere practically gave the blond whiplash.

"What?"

"Ta da," the redhead grinned as he brandished three small heavy looking boxes in Roxas' direction. "Mahogany, jet black or golden blond? Although, if I try the blond it will probably turn out ginger,"

"You're going to dye your hair?" Roxas stated more than asked, slowly.

"Yep, wouldn't wanna spoil the person I am here, right now. So I'll change my hair or something else and play at someone else, where I'm moving to," the redhead answered.

"Well, then…I think mahogany…but you'll look weird with anything that's not your natural hair colour anyway…"

"That's true. But I've gotta change something, you know," Axel put all three boxes back into the bag and then sat up straight. Roxas soon followed suit.

"We should probably be getting back," the blond stated, gazing down at the empty plaza beneath them.

"Yeah…um, hey, Roxas?" the redhead began, sending the other boy a side glance.

"What?"

"I love you, too," Axel whispered, turning away and gripping the edge of the ledge they sat on, tightly. The blond blinked once, before turning beetroot and looking down. Then silently he curled his arms around the redheads waist, hiding his face in the other boys shoulder. For what felt like eternity, neither of the boys breathed. Until finally, the redhead unfroze and moved to wrap his own arms around the blond and rest his chin amongst Roxas' golden spikes. Without seeming to realise, the redhead began to stroke the blonds neck, but the comfort was welcomed with a sigh. At some point confidence had built up within the blond, strong enough that, hesitating momentarily, he turned his head and tentatively pressed his lips to the exposed skin of the taller boys collar bone. There was the hint of a gasp from somewhere above the blonds head, a pause and then Axel pulled back two inches. He didn't, however, pull away. Ferocious green met dreamy blue. The blond couldn't seem to stop himself; he lifted his left hand and traced his fingertips gently over the plains of the other boys pale skin. 'Smooth' Roxas sensed Axel swallow but their eyes were still caught in each other. The blond was only partially aware of his hand moving to entangle his fingers into the red mass of hair, preparing to close the gap between their mouths, for what he hoped would be forever but knew wouldn't. It was too much, the moment the blonds lips met the redheads. It was too much, when the kiss deepened and the redhead ran his tongue along the blonds top row of teeth. It was too much, when that same tongue withdrew again. It was too much. But Roxas didn't want it to end. And Axel was terrified of the moment when it would end. The blond felt as if he was being consumed by fire, burning him from the inside out. Whereas the redhead felt like he was running towards the fire, through it, into the scorching depths where he wished more than anything right then, he could stay forever. But then again, the boy had always been a bit of a pyro. Roxas broke away first, unaccustomed to that kind of heat and sensation. Both boys were breathing heavily, not to mention loudly. At some point Axels hands had found the blonds hips, gripping as tightly as the blonds amongst his unruly red hair. Roxas kept his eyes closed, waiting for the heat in his face to ebb away. He released his hold on the other boy finally and dared to open his eyes. The redheads hands dropped from his waist, but he continued to stare with an expression somewhere between disbelief and torture. Roxas started fidgeting, unsure, 'He doesn't look happy…' but then again, the action had been a fruitless effort; the redhead was still leaving in a few days. Eventually, Axels face smoothed into an unreadable mask and he looked away.

"Well, that was different…" the redhead laughed mirthlessly.

"…Sorry," the blond sighed.

"Don't say that," the taller boy murmured, failing to conceal the melancholic note in his voice. However, the small boy was withdrawing quickly now, getting ready to run.

"No, really. Let's just forget about it…"

"No, look- Roxas…" all sense of façade was now gone. Unfortunately facades were something the blond was good at.

"…was a mistake, don't worry about it…"

"Can you just listen for a sec?"

"…should get going anyway…"

"No, wait- Roxas!"

As Roxas' silhouette disappeared around the corner, Axel drew one of his legs up and hid his face in the crook of his arm.

"Damn it," he muttered, hands fisting.

"Really smooth, Lea,"

"Huh, Rox-?" Axels head shot up in relief, forgetting the water collecting his eyes, only to hit the floor again. "Oh…"

"Aren't you glad to see me?"

"What? I've never even seen you before- wait, how do you know my name?" the redhead glared half heartedly at the strange boy with the pastel blue hair that flowed down his back, two thick strips falling either sides of his face. His eyes were a shade lighter than solid green but somewhere in the back of Axels mind, something told him they should be yellow…

"I see you've recreated your marks…couldn't quite let go of the past, could you? It's not easy, is it?"

"I'm really not in the mood right now, so just get lost, would ya?" the redhead got to his feet and made for the clock tower stairs, but the blue haired boy, exactly the same height as Axel, didn't budge. He just continued to watch the redhead with an almost disapproving look.

"Lea," the boy closed his eyes for a second but the redhead was distracted. Unwillingly, his gaze kept landing on the space of pale as moonlight skin over the bridge of the boys nose, between his eyes. "I bet you're relieved that's no longer there," the boy added, taking on a knowing glint in his eyes, when he picked up on where the other boy was looking.

"What?" the redhead shifted his eyes, losing patience fast- not that he had any to begin with.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Lea." The boy taunted.

"Quit calling me that." the redhead quipped. "And just for the record, mind games aren't my thing, so if you're here to ask me out or something- which would be understandable- the answer is no," Axel sent him a faux apologetic look and then attempted to manoeuvre the strange boy out of the way. The boy moved aside, surprisingly easily but clamped a hand on the redheads arm on his way passed.

"Hey-"

"Have you forgotten your promise, already, Lea?" the green eyes were practically imploring as they bore into emerald. Axel felt his heart tug a few times as he got trapped in the other boys gaze. For a second the redhead saw a smaller, younger version of the blue haired boy in front of him. The pastel blue hair was drastically shorter and spiked back, the eyes, heart-breakingly innocent. There was a flash of yet another version of the boy. The same hair as now, reaching well passed his shoulders but the eyes were a horrible yellow colour and there was a large 'X' of a scar positioned between emotionless eyes. The mark alone triggered a wave of nausea to wash over the redhead, almost completely drowning out the sense of déjà vu pressing down on him. And then his reverie dissolved as quickly as it had come. Axel swayed slightly. The fiery hair boy tried to shake himself from the feeling of desperate longing that erupted somewhere deep down within him, when the blue haired boy let go.

"…Promise?" Axel spoke finally, in a weak voice.

"Because, I haven't." the boy stated as if the redhead hadn't spoken.

"Hmm...? Hey- wait-" but the boy had already left, leaving a very confused redhead in his wake. There was a word on the end of Axels tongue, one he was sure he had never heard before- or at least, come into contact. 'Is it…his name…?' The boys heart tightened at the thought, instantly telling the redhead he was right. But even so, he was at a loss as to how he knew it. Axel stood there, hugging his body as the cool night breeze shot up his spine.

"Saïx..."

Roxas hadn't slept at all the night before. Just when he'd sense himself dropping off, the memory of the taste of Axels tongue would jolt him back into awareness.

"Are you alright, dear?" the blond glanced up from his cereal, slowly. "You don't look like you slept well last night…" his mother was studying him with a concerned look on her face. The boy finally took a spoonful of his, now soggy, cheerios before answering.

"I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind," he gave a casual shrug for good measure.

"Well…alright. Be sure to get a good nights sleep tonight, though, my darling," his mother relented, patting her sons cheek once before leaving the room. Roxas put his breakfast aside, reaching for his phone even though it would have sounded if he'd gotten a call or received a message. His heart sank just the same at the sight of the blank screen. But why was he expecting Axel to get in touch? After all, it had been the blond who had ran away; Axel was leaving in pretty much three days. Roxas rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, slowly. He had messed everything up. How was he going to face Axel? The blond already knew the answer: he couldn't. And now he'd never get the chance to say goodbye. The short boy slumped back to his bedroom, head bowed in defeat. Vaguely, he heard a knock on the front door and his mother going to answer it. He was standing vacantly in the middle of his room, when he registered the click of his door being opened, softly. The blond glanced up to come head to head with the same emerald green eyes that had haunted him all night. The small boy jumped slightly before blushing and taking a seat on his bed, leaning back against the headboard.

"What's up?" he said, only just managing an even tone. Axel closed the door behind him but didn't come any further into the room. Instead, he simply leant on the door, folding his arms tightly across his chest. The wide birth that lay before them was just as painful to both boys whether they knew it or not.

"I see you're cool with a capital C today," the redhead began, awkwardly upbeat.

"Screw you," the blond shot back, almost calmly. The redhead seemed to open his mouth to make a retort, but quickly thought better of it.

"So you really want it this way- to pretend like nothing happened?" Axel asked, significantly more sobered. The blonds fading blush darkened again as he frowned down at the frayed denim over his knees.

"You're leaving on Sunday," the younger boy stated, in reply.

"That's not an answer," the redhead pointed out, smoothly.

"It's too late now," the blond pressed quietly, still not looking at the other boy. "Before…we had all the time in the world. But now it's…three, four days at the most," he just about succeeded in keeping his voice emotionless, as he felt the weight of those green gems on him again.

"Yeah…I guess you're right…" Axel murmured after a moment. "Okay, well…since there's nothing to keep me here any longer than I have to, anymore…I'll see what I can do about leaving a day or two early, you know, clean break and all that…" the blond found himself staring wide eyed at the redhead, who was all business now, eyes resting anywhere but on the small blond boy with the heart ache flashing like lightning in his huge, round, ocean blue eyes. The taller boy turned and started to open the door to leave; the moment his back was turned the first tear drop fell, sliding down his cheek and dripping off the end of his chin.

"Axel-" the blond wasn't quite sure how but he was now on his feet, facing the other boys back, hands balled at his sides. Axel waited, biting down on his lip, hard. "So, this is it? Aren't you even going to say goodbye to me?"

"Goodbye-" but the blond interrupted by throwing his arms around the redhead fiercely and hiding his face in the taller boys back. Axel was shaking violently now, but not just from the tears running freely down his face. Feeling this, Roxas only tightened his grip as if trying to hold the other boy together. They stood like that for a long time, Axel trying his best to stifle the tiny gasps and whimpers that were escaping his mouth. The redhead wiped an arm over his eyes and then began disentangling himself from the blond. Roxas dropped his arms instantly but remained put, closing his eyes, he tried to memorise his best friends scent for the last time.

"Goodbye, Axel," the blond whispered, gazing intently at the back of the taller boys head. It worked, the redhead slowly turned around to look at the blond one last time. His lashes were wet and there was a light spread of pink around his eyes but the blond thought it made the green within look all the more vibrant.

"This isn't goodbye- we'll still see each other…occasionally," the redhead protested. There seemed to have been a roll reversal but the blond was finding it hard to concentrate. "I mean I know it's practically a world away but we'll keep in touch, right? See each other on birthdays- that sorta thing…" even the redhead didn't believe the words he was saying but still he nearly broke down again when the blond spoke.

"How often do you see Vincent," the words were spoken gently but they still cut.

"Yeah but me and you, we're more than…" the redhead trailed off before he could finish that lie. If anything, Axels bond with Roxas equalled that of his and Vincent's. The tall boy already knew it didn't matter how strong their friendship, their connection was- he was leaving. And that was that; there was no need to make this any harder than it already was. If Axel said he'd never feel this way again. If he said he'd never find anyone else as precious to him as the blond in front of him, it wouldn't be true. In his past was the truth and he couldn't deny it. The only thing was, just as Vincent had been, Roxas was a newcomer to being abandoned, whether by Axel or not. That was the guarantee he'd live forever in both their memories; by being the first- maybe even the only one- to do that to them. It didn't even matter that it was out of his control. For all the redhead knew, he did know the blue haired boy from the night before, only from far enough back that he couldn't remember. And if he was honest with himself, he'd probably broken that boys heart too. The redhead was about to crack.

"Go," the blond wasn't smiling but he placed an almost, reassuring hand on the taller boys arm. Axel couldn't handle it. Why was Roxas comforting _him_? It was wrong. And yet it had been the same with Vincent. The redhead had cried on the black haired boys shoulder through most of the night before the day came that he would have to leave his, then, most cherished friend. It had probably been the same with Isa. 'Wait, who's Isa?' the redhead covered his face with a hand, trying to slow his breathing. He mustered all the composure he could manage and looked back down into the ocean blue irises.

"See ya, partner," And then he ran.

Roxas thought he would welcome the silence and release. But he didn't. He seemed to be under some kind of checkmate. Half of him desperately wanted to run after the redhead and never let him go, while the other half knew and accepted that Axel was no longer a part of his life now. As a result he just stood there, staring, unseeing, at his slightly open bedroom door. He didn't quite know what he was feeling. Empty? Distraught? Was he in shock? The only thing he did know was that he'd felt cold the moment Axel had walked out of his door. His guessed he could see some hope in that though. All he had to do was put his hoody on. Or he could curl up in bed, there was that too. Either way, he wouldn't stay cold forever. So the cold he could deal with but anything else- emptiness, loneliness, sadness- he would need someone else to help him with. He thought about Demyx and Zexion. But he already knew that he'd never see either of them again, not by choice anyway. He needed a clean break, just as Axel had said. After a couple more minutes of detached thinking, the blond realised that his face was soaking wet. He stood there, trying not only to blink back the salty water, but his emotions, as jumbled and intense as they were. Then slowly, very gradually, the small blond sank to the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here," the redhead shot back. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was, he just kept running. The blue haired boy had seemingly materialised at the redheads side sometime along the way.

"Lea," the blue haired boy called, clearly not as breathless as the other boy. "Stop," three more long strides later the redhead did stop, but only at having reached a dead-end. Axel braced himself on his knees and tried to catch his breath. The other boy placed a hand on his hip, panting only slightly. Glancing around half heartedly, the redhead noted that they were at the top of Sunset Hill.

"Away from where, exactly? Or should I say 'whom'?" the blue haired boy continued, lifting his free hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Give me a break, Isa," the redhead paused, confused momentarily but then shifted his gaze away. He felt the other boy continue staring at him, only more intently now. Straightening up, the redhead finally turned to the other boy, the frown never leaving face.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"So which is it? Isa…or Saïx?" Axel replied pointedly, ignoring the blue haired boys question.

"I see you are starting to remember…but you have a lot further to go than just the recalling of a name or two," the boy answered after a long silence.

"Are you sure we know each other? I mean- no offense- but you don't seem like somebody I'd hang out with…" the redhead smirked. For a fraction of a second, the stranger took on a mildly stony expression before it relaxed again and he simply rolled his eyes. "But seriously, gotta call you something- what's your name, Blue?"

"My name is Isa. But I admit however, that there was a time where I went by 'Saïx'. Just like you went by Axel…although evidently, you still do,"

"I came up with Axel when I moved here…so I'm afraid you have the wrong guy, Blue," the redhead shrugged and took a seat on the nearby bench. The other boy, Isa, stayed where he was, eyes trained on Axel.

"Just because you don't remember, does not mean it didn't happen," Isa replied firmly. "Although I understand why it will be hard to jog your memory; I fear there is nothing left in me of the boy you once knew. And the 'me' you'll most likely remember, is a person best left forgotten." He turned away then, towards the sun and allowing the redhead to attempt to clear his head. It was hard to think around the strange boy; it seemed like a sudden battle between real memory and dream whenever he was around.

"You're right there. It's hard to pin a guy down when they appear to have multiple identities," the redhead said, sarcastically. "And are you telling me you went through a bad case of yellow eye, too?"

"I…don't know where to start…" Isa admitted with a sigh, still facing away from Axel.

"Well, why don't you start with why you'd bother coming after me like this- I mean, we can't have been close; we have a grand total of, nothing, in common," the redhead had had enough of this charade. He was tired, confused and he was aching from the fact that he was leaving Roxas, forever, tomorrow. The blue haired boy turned however, to reveal what looked like all the ire his entire being possessed. And it didn't sit too well with the redhead; there was a part of him that stung, making him want to beg for the other boys forgiveness for ever opening his mouth. There was another emotion there, behind the dominant glare, that if the redhead had dared to look closer, would have seen was something vaguely resembling hurt. Isa turned his back to Axel again before he responded.

"It took me so long to find you. And when I finally did, you didn't even recognise me; you just walked on by me. I was…disappointed…to say the least. I thought about leaving you alone; there's a lot, you wouldn't want to remember. I thought you might eventually regain those lost years yet and come looking for me. But then I decided, now that I had found you, I would never stray too far from you again. After all, knowing you, even if you did remember and attempted to find me, you would probably only end up getting lost somewhere out there in the wilderness." Through all this, the redhead had left his seat and begun to drift towards the other boy without realising. Now he stood just a foot from him. Isa seemed to sense his presence, but made no move to turn towards him. The blue haired boy allowed his eyes to fall closed and heaved a sigh, waiting for the redheads reaction.

"Isa," Axel began, not knowing what to say. He still couldn't remember anything but when the blue haired boy had implied how much they had meant to each other, that strange part of his core had begun to sting again…But even if it was all just lies and the boy was crazy, the redhead needed someone. Someone constant, who would never leave his side and would always, be there for him. He had a feeling that the quiet boy stood in front of him, could be that- maybe, already had been- and he wasn't going to throw away this chance. Not when he'd just had to let another one go. "Lets just forget about the past and start over, yeah? I mean, who knows if I'll ever remember…but well, even if what you've said is true, we're not gonna be able to just pick up from where we left off. And you said yourself, there's a 'you' in the past that I probably wont wanna remember? Well then, I'll just have to get to know the 'you' now," the redhead smiled, encouragingly, even though the other boy couldn't see it.

"You just need a replacement for that blond," the blue haired boy retorted, surprising the redhead a little.

"Wha…? No, I-" but the other boy cut him off.

"It's fine. But I don't want to be in your life just because you need a new best friend. I want you to want me as a friend, whether you remember or not, Lea."

"Oh, right…" Axel nodded, his stomach twisting uncomfortably as the blue haired boy began to walk away. "Wait- Isa," the redhead started after him, grabbing his hand to pull him back. On contact, it felt as though a lightening bolt had shot up his arm and into his heart. He swayed, pulling his hand back to clutch his chest.

"Lea, are you alright?" the lines on his forehead were the only hint at the blue haired boys concern. The redhead opened his mouth to reply just as his vision got unnervingly hazy. He could see Isa step closer to him, solid green eyes marginally wider as he repeated the redheads name.

"Isa…" the word was swallowed up with Axel.

_This time he definitely knew he was dreaming; he had probably fainted again. But even so he welcomed the comfort of sleep this time. After a moment he realised he was looking at his fourteen year old self crouched inside a bush, whispering excitedly to a boy. There was no doubt it was Isa. He was wearing a dark blue zip up jumper, sporting a crescent moon and white slacks. The redhead himself wore what he usually did at that age. He felt a swirl of nostalgia at the red and white high-tops and chequered yellow scarf._

_"You do realise that we could get into serious trouble, if we're caught," Isa was saying as they peered through what appeared to be a black metal fence. All of this was beginning to look and feel familiar but for all the redhead knew, this was all just in his imagination._

_"That's why we _won't_ get caught," Axels other self reasoned, easily. "Come on, you wanna know what goes on in there as much as I do," here he shot an ear to ear grin at the blue haired boy who rolled his eyes._

_"Alright, lets just get this over with," Isa said, begrudgingly, but he returned the grin with a mischievous smile of his own._

_"Now we're talking," Lea said, enthusiastically as they began to make their way along the fence as quietly as they could. "Hey, Isa," Lea said in hushed tones, after a moment of just the sounds of twigs under foot and the rustling of leaves. The boy in front hummed under his breath, eyes and ears alert._

_"If I get caught…you'll come and get me, right?" Axel watched as his other self blushed. Isa paused in his tracks, looking back at the young redhead. Then taking one of Leas hands in his and giving it a light squeeze, he answered, "I wont let anything happen to you, Lea." The young redhead met the blue haired boys eyes, shyly at first but then seemed to return to his happy disposition._

_"Best friends forever, right?" Isa nodded before they returned to creeping along the fence, hands still entwined. Axel was intrigued by this point; everything seemed too real and the glimpse he got of the castle beyond the fence filled him with a sense of foreboding not dissimilar to that of the feeling he had gotten when hearing of Vincent's new assignment. However, now that he was beginning to pay attention of course, was when he awoke._

"Lea?" Axel frowned, trying to push through the fuzziness of his mind. Gradually he opened his eyes and for what felt like forever, green stared into green. "Did you remember?" it took the redhead a while to comprehend why he was looking into green eyes instead of ocean blue, but he got there, eventually.

"Huh…? No…no, I haven't remembered," the blue haired boys face fell ever so slightly but Axel noticed. He still wasn't sure why that made him feel bad, after all it wasn't his fault. Although that lead him to the question of, whose fault was it? It was then that Axel wondered for the first time, how he had lost his memory- if he had, indeed, lost it.

"It's just…you kept saying my name, while you were unconscious…" the blue haired boy moved away then, getting to his feet. The pressure simultaneously lifted from Axels left hand and he realised that Isa had been holding it.

"I did?" was all he said as he began picking himself up from off the floor. "I-I was dreaming of you," Axel said suddenly, in the middle of dusting himself off.

"And?" Isa prompted, the closest to eager as he could get, as he looked over at the redhead.

"Oh, right- well, we were…in a bush and we were about to sneak into this place, I think…" the redhead started, eyebrows pulling together in concentration.

"And I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Isa finished, looking away again and scowling slightly as he recalled his words.

"Yeah…that's what you said," the redhead murmured, in thought. "I called you my best friend…"

"Oh how wrong would that turn out to be. I couldn't even protect myself, let alone you," Isa began bitterly. "But they said they'd let you go, if I agreed."

"What…happened to us?" Axel asked, carefully, stepping towards the other boy.

"No, you were right, Lea," the boy took in a breath. "Let's pretend we've only just met- if you remember, you remember."

"But-"

"Trust me," the redhead deliberated for a moment before sighing.

"Okay, Isa," he agreed with a nod. "After all, we're friends now, right?" here, he flashed his legendary grin. A short chuckle escaped Isas lips then, the tension that had built up in him, falling away.

"Come on; let's get some food- I'm starving!" The redhead gave the blue haired boy a pat on the back as they began to make their way down the hill.

"Just how do you stay so skinny?" Isa remarked, sarcastically.

The next day, Axel was lounging on his bed, trying not to call Roxas. The previous afternoon had been nice enough, it was still a little awkward but Axel could feel himself quickly, warming to the strange pastel blue haired boy. However, the blond was still at the forefront of his mind; his mother had promised that they would be all set to leave, Saturday evening by the earliest. So with the whole of Friday spread out in front of him, he couldn't help wanting to spend it with Roxas. He was about to reach for his phone for the umpteenth time, when the dream he'd had the night before flashed into his head.

_"Lea- get down!" Isa hissed as one of the castle guards rounded the corner on his routine patrol. They'd both managed to clear the fence a couple minutes before and were now crouching in the shadows of a large oak tree. The guard with the long thick black pony-tailed hair complete with the anything but attractive side burns, paced the parameter of the castle. His deep, purple eyes scanned the surroundings every few seconds, but the boys remained unseen._

_"Chill out," Lea whispered back, nudging the other boy playfully. However, Isa almost toppled over and the guards head shot up in their direction. Neither boy breathed as the purple eyes man summoned one of the lances that made up his weapon, the Lindworm. Lea and Isa had only seen the mans weapon fully summoned once before, and only because a giant monster had invaded the streets of Radiant Garden and the two guards had been called away from the Castle in order to deal with it. The young redhead mentally cringed as the guard slowly straightened up and began his patrol again, keeping the lance firmly in hand._

_"Phew, that was close," Lea murmured, grimacing at the livid look the other boy gave him._

_"Too close. I thought the object was _not_ to get caught?" the blue haired boy muttered, shaking his head._

_"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," the redhead whispered. "Right, the coasts clear now- quick," the boys ran stealthily across the grass towards the next tree. They sat down, their backs to the trunk as they caught their breath, bef0re surveying the view from their new position. The next stop was the castles front door; both the guards currently stood at their posts on either side. Isa heaved a sigh as he lowered himself to the soft slightly damp, ground again._

_"Now what," he said non-committal, not really wanting to hear any of the redheads 'bright' ideas._

_"It looks like we won't be getting in through that way," the redhead stated._

_"You don't say," Isa closed his eyes, trying to remember if any of the windows they'd just passed had been open._

_"Isa," Lea suddenly grabbed the other boys arm, his gaze fixed on the front of the castle. "Look,"_

_"What's…going on…?" the guard with the reddish brown, spiked back hair and clear blue eyes ran into the building, his Tomahawk at the ready. A moment later, a shout was heard and the remaining guard immediately entered. The two boys glanced at each other in confusion and then cautiously, hurried over to the wide open, castle entrance. They stopped about six feet from the doors, staring into the empty foyer._

_"…Hey, now's our chance, Isa!" the redhead exclaimed, starting towards the building, eagerly. After a beat, the blue haired boy pulled him back roughly by the arm._

_"No, Lea, something's not right. We should go. Now." Isa said, hand still gripping the others arm._

_"Wha? Isa, come on! If we leave now we'll never know what those sneaky scientists are up to," Lea pouted, surprised by the blue haired boys reluctance. Isa had wanted to find out a lot more than Lea had, originally. He didn't trust them and the more the two boys had monitored the secretive apprentices, the more suspicious they had become. To Lea it was more about the thrill of the chase but to Isa, it had been more about the uncovering of the truth._

_"No, please, Lea, we need to go,"_

_"You've gotta be kidding me-" the redhead began but he stopped as he met the pleading, almost desperate look in his friends eyes. "Isa…okay, you got me- lets get outta here," the redhead was rewarded with a brief smile of relief before they both turned for the front gate. Out of nowhere, a hand clamped down on either of the friends shoulders._

_"Well, what do we have here?" the last thing Lea did was clutch at Isas hand, before they were separated indefinitely._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

Back in reality, Axel lay on his back, frowning up at the ceiling. The redhead had already completely forgotten about Roxas by the time it registered that Demyx and Zexion were standing in his room, with odd expressions on their faces.

"Hellooo," the honey blond waved his hand in front of Axels face for emphasis before the redhead swatted it away. Demyx laughed as Zexion simply took a seat on the black loveseat; the honey blond quickly joined him.

"Where is Roxas?"

"Yeah, we haven't seen you two in weeks!" Demyx exclaimed, unnecessarily loud. The redhead sat up, trying to keep his face neutral.

"Days," the silvery blue haired boy corrected dryly, as he pulled out a rather large looking book.

"Ah, well we just hung out on our own the last couple of days- well, not yesterday but…might catch up with him a little later…maybe," Axel rubbed his neck, looking away.

"Huh," Demyxs response sounded a little too accusatory for the redheads liking but he didn't express this aloud.

"Yep." The taller boy ran a hand through his hair, continuing to avoid the honey blonds gaze.

"I'm not buying that. What do you think, Zexy?" the blond slung his arm clumsily, over his boyfriends shoulders.

"Clearly, they've broken up. Or had a row," the blue haired boy answered, sounding bored. Axel spluttered.

"We weren't together or anything," the redhead said, lying back down, anticipating the sharp stab of hurt.

"£10," Zexion commanded the blond.

"Man, fine, here's your stupid £10," Demyx grumbled, handing over the money before crossing his arms. Axel glared at them each in turn, regardless of the fact that Demyx wasn't even paying attention and Zexion had already immersed himself back into his dictionary- book, that is.

"Wait, so then what's up with you and Rox?" the honey blond asked suddenly, turning back to his reluctant friend.

"Nothing. We're just not hanging out today," the redhead replied, fiddling with his mobile.

"But you guys didn't hang out yesterday either…?" the blond pointed out, taking on a bit of a whiny tone.

"Nosy." The blonds boyfriend remarked, as Axel sighed.

"We just…thought it best to…say our goodbyes early on…"

"Wha?! Axel-" Demyx paused his- over- reaction to raise an eyebrow at the window to the redheads right. "Who is _that_?" that second, the window slid open and the three watched as the intruder gracefully swung his body into the room.

"The fuck-" Axel flew off the bed and pinned the man to the wall.

"It's me," came a familiar, slightly amused voice. The redheads eyes widened. "You can let go now…" but Axel didn't let go, he pulled the black haired boy into a fierce hug.

"Vincent!" Demyx jumped up enthusiastically as his boyfriend offered a, "It's good to see you," and a fond smile.

"Hello, boys," Vincent chuckled as he rubbed the redheads back. "What is it, Red?" Axel had started crying but he hid his face in the older boys neck. The black haired boy frowned in concern, stroking back the red spikes.

"What's up, Ax?" the honey blond gave the redheads shoulder a squeeze as he raised his eyebrows at Zexion, who had put his book aside and wandered over to investigate.

"What are you doing here?" Axel said instead, sniffling.

"Their 'trip' has been postponed for a month," Vincent explained, easily. "I'm off till we leave, though. Thought I'd see you off,"

"Awesome," Demyx grinned as Zexion hooked his arm around the boys waist.

"We'll leave you two to it," the silvery blue haired boy told Vincent, pulling the honey blond along. "We'll see you both tomorrow." The black haired boy nodded.

"But," the blond began, but he stopped when he caught his lovers eye. "Aw, okay, see ya, Vince. Bye Axel,"

"See you," Vincent responded with a smile. Once the door was shut, the black haired boy returned his gaze to the fragile redhead in his arms. "Axel, what's wrong?" although he had calmed down, Axel wasn't sure if he was ready to talk yet. He wasn't even sure he wanted to tell Vincent. The moment he'd seen the older boy he'd been overcome with relief so strong he'd broken down. But now the black haired boy knew something wasn't right and definitely wouldn't let up until he got some sort of explanation.

"I was just worried about you," the redhead murmured. "And the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow…I guess it all just overwhelmed me for a minute," Vincent was silent for so long, Axel feared that he wasn't going to take it as an answer.

"It's Roxas, isn't it?" the black haired boy said softly.

"That too," the redhead sighed against the other boys neck.

"Why haven't you told your mother? When she sees how unhappy you are about leaving, surely she'll reconsider…" Vincent took up running his hand through the red mane, absently.

"It's too late, too much has happened now- it would be like fighting fate," Axel said, finally pulling back to meet his friends eyes.

"What do you mean?" the black haired boy asked, moving his arms to the redheads shoulders. Green studied warm brown and vice versa.

"If I leave here, I hurt Roxas. If I stay here, with him…I'd end up hurting him a lot more…some way, or another…" Axel shook his head at himself as Vincent's eyebrows pulled together.

"I don't understand you," the older boy said more to himself, seeming bothered by this. Axel walked to the window Vincent had arrived through and gazed in the direction of Roxas' house for a moment. He could feel his friends eyes on him but he ignored them, pushing his hands into his jeans pockets.

"I…met someone the other day," the redhead began, carefully.

"Oh…" the other boy realised, his frown however, deepened.

"It's not like that! Not exactly, anyway…he was different, said me and him used to know each other-"

"Red," Vincent started.

"No, let me finish," Axel implored, still not looking at the other boy. "He told me he'd been searching for me, that we'd separated at some point- but anyway, I…I don't remember him, well not just yet...since I met him the other night, these…memories of the two of us have…started to come back to me…"

"How do you know they're real, though, Red?" Vincent asked, patiently.

"I just…do," the younger boy shrugged lightly, turning to face the boy with the jet black hair and the fathomless eyes. Once all Axel had dreamed about was diving into the depths of those intense brown orbs, running his fingers through the feather-soft hair all the while. If he really thought about it, he still did. Just like he'd always want to look upon the small blonds red, pouty face. "I have to follow my heart, right? And my hearts telling me that I need to find this part of my past that I've lost,"

"You always do," Vincent chuckled, shaking his head.

"Of course, no better way to live, right?" the redhead grinned for the first time that day, then.

"Right," Vincent agreed, smiling at Axel.

"Hey, V.V.?"

"Yes?"

"How come you came in through the window?" the black haired boy blanched.

"…Occupational hazard," he smirked after a pause.

"Oh, how I've missed you,"

"Axel,"

"Hey- wait, why did you just call me 'Axel'?" the redhead turned to raise an eyebrow at the newcomer.

"It's your name, isn't it?" the boy with the masses of pastel blue hair responded, moving to take a seat by the redhead, cautiously. "What is it with you and high places?" he added, rhetorically as he averted his eyes.

"Yeah but you always call me Lea…I got used to it," the redhead looked away. "And what, you don't like heights? The view of the sunset will make up for it,"

"Unless you remember, lea isn't who you are anymore," Isa replied, gripping the edge firmly with both hands as he glanced at the other boy. "And I highly doubt it- it didn't make up for it, the first time,"

"You mean _until_ I remember and anyway, it's weird you calling me Axel," rubbing his neck, Axel chanced a look at the blue haired boy. Isa was staring in the general direction of the sun but he seemed to be concentrating solely on not looking down. "Maybe you shouldn't sit with your legs over the edge- come on, sit back. I will too," Isa relaxed ever so slightly as they repositioned themselves, backs against the wall and legs drawn up.

"Thank you, Lea," the blue haired boy said quietly, turning his attention to the redhead again.

"No problem. So, how come you're scared of heights? Or have you always been like that?" Axel questioned, fixing his eyes back on the sun.

"It's not fear, I'm just…apprehensive around them," Isa answered, catching the half quizzical, half uneasy look the other boy shot him.

"Why do I get the feeling I had something to do with that?" Axel said, hugging his arms. Isa chuckled quietly.

"Because you did," the blue haired boy rolled his eyes at the memory but attempted to shift further back subconsciously.

"I knew it," the redhead sighed, a chagrined smile gracing his face as he looked over at the other boy.

"…Do you remember?" Axel lowered his eyes as he shook his head.

"That's not surprising…sometimes we would eat ice-cream while sitting on the roof of your house. We'd only sit on mine occasionally, when my parents weren't home," Isa shrugged, clasping his hands together in his lap.

"Strict, huh?" the redhead prompted, getting distracted by the pale skin where the 'X' scar used to be, again. It was as if it had never been there, same with the eyes. 'How can someones eyes randomly change colour anyway?'

"Yes…they didn't approve of my being friends with you. They thought you were a bad influence on me," Isa smiled slightly at Axels incredulous expression.

"Hmph," the redhead grumbled under his breath as the blue haired boy continued.

"That's why I made friends with you in the first place. On the first day of year ten, you sat down next to me in class and just started talking, like we'd already been having a conversation. At first, I found you irritating to no end. You followed me around all day, acting as though we'd been friends our whole lives. At home time though, when my mother picked me up, she gave you a strange look; you didn't see, but I did. I realised then that you were exactly the type of person my parents wouldn't like, so I turned to you and said, "See you tomorrow, Lea," and that was that." Isa admitted, smiling at the redhead with amusement alight in his eyes.

"Gee, thanks," Axel glared. "That sounds like the most humiliating thing ever to happen to me, without me knowing it- whether I could remember or not," he declared, confusing himself and the blue haired boy in the process.

"To be honest, I think we would have ended up friends either way." The blue haired boy reasoned, easily. "After all, you wouldn't leave me alone. You've always been so…persistent. It would have been a lot more difficult trying to dissuade you of our being friends rather than just give in and accept it,"

"It's weird…I mean, that sounds just like me- that's the way I've always made friends but…I want to remember what made me do it. I want to remember what I liked about you," the redhead felt himself blush faintly, but ignored it.

"I'm glad," was all the other boys response. The two boys sat in mutual silence for a while before Axel spoke.

"You never told me- why you don't like heights," the blue haired stiffened momentarily as if suddenly remembering where they were.

"Oh, where was I?"

"We were on my roof eating ice-cream," the redhead said, looking out over the town. He wondered how the sunset had looked from the house he, apparently, once lived.

"You were messing around, said you could do a handstand without falling off. I told you to stop being stupid but you insisted you could do it. You lifted your legs up into the air and for a few seconds you looked like you were going to lose balance; it was long enough for me to try and get to you, however- I slipped and rolled off the roof. Needless to say, I broke both my legs," by the end of the story, Axels eyes were wide and his eyebrows were drawn together in worry.

"What about me? I fell too, right?" Isa laughed once, shaking his head.

"You finished your elaborate stunt on the balls of your feet- shouting me name repeatedly in panic, though of course," the redhead hung his head then. It didn't seem like he'd been a particularly good best friend to this boy, although he had been a lot more of a '_don't_ think before you act' kind of person, growing up; what did he expect?

"How did you put up with me?" the redhead wondered, glumly.

"I've…said enough for now," Isa replied, looking at his hands. "It's best if you remember on your own anyway. Only you know why it is that you sought to become friends with me that day," the blue haired boy started to get to his feet, using the wall for support.

"You're going?" Axel asked, quickly. "But the moons just come out- ain't this your favourite part?" the redhead wasn't sure where he'd pulled that idea out from but Isa responded in a way that confirmed it.

"It's true I used to be fascinated by the moon, much like your obsession with the sun…or rather, any ball of fire," the blue haired boy answered honestly, but he remained standing.

"What changed?" the redhead asked, looking up at the other boy. He closed his green eyes as he replied.

"I did."

That night Axel tossed and turned. The memories had been seeping in unexpectedly through the last two days, only in fragments, though. But since he'd been left looking up at the night sky, the flashes and snippets of his lost memories had begun to plague his mind. He couldn't make sense of any of them, however long they kept him awake. Gradually, the redhead managed to exhaust himself enough that his eyelids drooped and the darkness claimed him.

_"Isa…?" the redhead stirred, uncomfortably. He tuned into the soft sobs of somebody to his right. Lea opened his emerald eyes slowly, squinting at the sudden exposure to artificial light. Blinking, he weakly pulled himself up into a sitting position. It dawned on him first that something was wrong, very wrong. And then he recognised the sobbing person as Isa. He was kneeling by the blue haired boy in an instant._

_"Isa! What happened?" glancing around, he noticed that they were in some sort of computer room, but beyond that, he had no idea. Looking back at his friend, he tried to soothe him, smoothing the long strips of hair either side of his face, back behind his ears. The redhead gasped as he took in the harsh wound between the blue haired boys closed eyes. There were three trails of blood, the same colour of Leas hair, running over the taught skin of Isas nose and down to his chin. The cut itself looked as if someone had etched an 'X' onto his skin. Lea stifled the rising bile as he felt his eyes sting. The boy in front of him hugging his knees was still crying quietly; he wouldn't look at he redhead and for a moment, Lea doubted if this even was Isa. Gently he took the boys face in his hands._

_"Isa…what happened?" the blue haired boy attempted to pull away, eyes still closed, but Lea held firm. Finally, the bleeding boy looked up at the redhead. It was Leas turn to close his eyes, if only for a fraction of a second before looking back at the distraught and terrified boy. The once grass green irises that Lea had loved were gone. Left in their place were a pair of feral looking, bright yellow suns. The redheads flood gates broke down then, as he tried desperately not to recoil from the mouth of hell that seemed to have opened up beneath him._

_"Who did this to you?" the redhead demanded, voice cracking. Isa had lowered his head again as Lea ran his hands roughly through his long spikes. "Isa, we have to get outta here," he frantically cast his gaze around the room for an exit. He hauled his friend up from the back, arms hooked on his shoulders. Isa didn't struggle but didn't do much to help either. Placing his hands at the base of the blue haired boys neck, he locked his eyes with the yellow ones, all the while fighting the urge to run._

_"Go- leave me," the blue haired boy urged before Lea could speak. The redheads eyes widened in disbelief._

_"What?"_

_"You heard me, Lea. Get out while you still can, I…I can't go back, not now," Isa pleaded, giving the redhead a shove towards the door._

_"I am not leaving you here, Isa," Lea protested, going to grab the other boys hand. Isa stepped back just in time._

_"I said I wouldn't let anything happen to you, it's probably too late but…this time I'm going to keep my promise. Even if…it kills me." Isa was nearly inaudible by the end, taking a few more steps back and away from the redhead._

_"Isa! What are you doing?" Lea begged, tearfully. His arms were outstretched as if waiting for the other boy to change his mind and run into them._

_"Just go, Lea!" the blue haired boy shouted, shaking visibly._

_"No," the redhead refused quietly but with all the strength he owned. "Forget it; I'm not leaving without you." Isa would have glared in any other situation, instead he shook his head, the anxiety built up within him, about to surpass its peak. Then out of nowhere, a cool gloved hand gripped the redheads arm. Isa, who seemed to drain completely of energy, just closed his eyes, head bowed and turned his back to Lea._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

When Axel woke it was a mere three hours later and there was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep now. His heart was beating erratically in his chest. Although he'd finally been able to conjure up a full out memory instead of just a fragment or freeze frame, the redhead had been left not only more baffled and lost, but utterly fearful. And he still didn't know exactly what had happened to himself and Isa. The redhead rolled onto his side and contemplated the day ahead; they would be leaving early afternoon. Isa had told him he'd be following in a few days but the redhead still hadn't told the pastel blue haired boy where it was that they were moving to. Axel lay in bed the rest of the night, hopelessly trying to make sense of his life. He thought about Roxas a couple of times, wondering if the little blond would turn up to see him off even though they'd already said their goodbyes. Then the redhead remembered that he hadn't told the blond he'd be leaving on Saturday; he hadn't spoken to the golden blond at all. Roxas probably thought that Axel was long gone. The redhead wallowed for a bit, before continuing piecing together his mental collage of Isa.

Later on that morning, the redhead was preparing to get dressed; almost all his things packed and ready to go. He'd learned early on not to get too settled; not to decorate his room with too many posters or photos, not to collect things, not to build his reading and music collections up too high. Axel had almost perfected the art of minimalism. He stood in his pyjama bottoms, about to put on a long sleeved, thin cotton orange top when he heard his window being opened.

"Vincent, really?" the redhead started before he turned to see that it was, in fact, Isa. "Oh…hiya," the redhead surprised himself by blushing in response to the blue haired boys seeing him half naked. He lifted his hand from where he'd placed it on his hip to rub his neck.

"Were you expecting someone?" Isa asked, looking away from the redhead's bare torso.

"Huh? Oh no- it's just that a friend of mine came through the window the other day, so I assumed it was him," Axel shrugged awkwardly.

"I see," the blue haired boy replied simply.

"I don't know too many people who like to use my window as a door…" the redhead joked lamely. He guessed he could just put his top on and put an end to the weird atmosphere. But there was a part of him that homed in on Isa's discomfiture and enjoyed it.

"So," the redhead began slowly moving towards the other boy, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "What brings you here?" the blue haired boy blinked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not much," Isa stated, shifting his weight in response to the redheads proximity.

"That so," Axel murmured before making the mistake of looking into the other boy's eyes. On impact, Axel had a flash of the yellow eyes within the scarred face. He frowned and looked away. Isa sensed the change in the others mood and moved to perch on the black loveseat, quietly. Distracted, Axel walked back over to his bed to retrieve the orange top which he promptly pulled over his head.

"I came over because I didn't think you'd want me at the send off with your other friends," the blue haired boy said after a moment.

"Well, it would be kind of weird," the redhead replied, sitting down on his bed which had been stripped of the sheets already. "It would be kinda hard explaining to them who you are, considering I don't really even know who you are,"

"You haven't told your friends about me?" Isa asked, sounding oddly casual. The redhead leant back on his hands.

"I might have mentioned you to one of them…" Axel answered, vaguely.

"Really," Isa said in a mild voice.

"Uh-huh," their gazes met for a moment. For what felt like the first time, Axel actually looked at Isa. The redhead had to admit the boy was equally as unique as himself. they both had green eyes but on further speculation, they were shades that were as rare as rare could get. Isa's eyes reminded the redhead of spring; freshly budded flowers and trees, grass and the earth beneath soaking up April showers. Then there was there depth- so much like Vincent's and yet completely different. Roxas' had shown signs of that kind of deep abyss, but was nothing compared to the maturity of Vincent's or the stoicism of Isa's. Next was the long flowing, blue river of hair, the complete opposite to Axels flaming spikes. And there was no denying how smooth that pale skin looked. Axel studied the body underneath; the blue haired boy was the same height of the redhead but his frame looked athletic and agile whereas Axel looked generally like a twig- even with the few muscles he did have. The redhead pouted in envy for a while before it registered that Isa was speaking to him.

"Huh, um, sorry- what was that?"

"You were staring at me…seeing the yellow eyed monster again?" Isa said, dryly as he crossed his left leg over his right.

"No," Axel replied, frowning. "You're not Saïx anymore, you don't have to pretend around me," the blue haired boy raised his eyebrows.

"You don't fully understand the extent of how much we've both changed, Lea. Especially me," Isa looked away from the searching eyes, propping his chin on his fist.

"Whatever happened to acting like we've just met?" Axel laughed after a moment and was rewarded with the hint of a smile.

"Your impatience happened," Isa answered, closing his eyes briefly.

"By the way, the place I'm moving to,"

"_We're_ moving to," the blue haired boy interjected, calmly.

"Right. The place _we're_ moving to," the redhead paused to stick his tongue out at the other boy. "Is Radiant Garden,"

"Radiant…?" Isa was frozen in place, eyes significantly wider than before.

"Radiant Garden, yeah. Well actually I think its called Hollow Bastion now but Radiant Garden sounds a lot better- and pretty…"

"Lea," the blue haired boy cut him off. "That's where we used to live…" he trailed off, wondering at the coincidence.

"Wha…? No way, my mum woulda said if we were moving _back_ to somewhere,"

"Maybe. If she remembered living there," Isa suggested, tonelessly.

"…Are you sure we lived in Radiant Garden?" Axel questioned, sitting up straight. Isa just stared at him as if he was stupid.

"No one remembers the time of your life when you 'disappeared'. Except me that is, and the Organization,"

"The Organization?" the redhead repeated; he blue haired boy mentally hit himself. "Well?"

"Forget I mentioned them," the blue haired boy commanded.

"Well which is it, Isa? Do you want me to remember or forget?" Axel retorted, his voice raising an octave. Isa sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Their 'leader' was the one who did 'kidnapped' us," the redhead had a vision of a large, painfully white room with a circle of what were apparently tall chairs of varying heights. Seated in the highest chair was a man with spiky, long silvery white hair. His vivid ochre eyes gazed down at his underlings, not quite smug as his mouth widened into a coded smile.

"Xemnas." Isa's expression cooled at the name but he nodded.

"It will be strange going back there together, with everything that's occurred," the blue haired boy remarked, moving back to the original subject, swiftly.

"I guess…though I bet it'll be a lot weirder for you," the redhead replied, laughing a little as he got to his feet.

"Am I keeping you?" Isa asked in a mild, inquiring tone.

"Nah, I can multi-task pretty well," Axel grinned, picking out a clean pair of boxers along with his pipe jeans that were torn at the knees and a fresh pair of blue socks.

"I'm not sure that's something you should brag about, Lea," the blue haired boy smirked.

"Hey, what's wrong with being good at multi-tasking?" Axel demanded as he stopped at his bedroom door.

"Nothing. Except perhaps, being mistaken for a girl," Isa returned effortlessly, eyes flashing with amusement.

"Jeeze, some people these days. Keep this up and I'll be retracting my one-time offer of friendship, ya hear? Be back in a sec," Isa laughed as the redhead swanned out of the room. Instantly, the blue haired boy relaxed into the couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. It was a chore keeping his distance around the redhead all the time, but it had been almost excruciating while Axel had been topless. A swirl of pink bloomed on the blue haired boy's cheeks at the thought of the redhead half naked; Isa was surprised he'd managed to put off till now but he didn't question it. There was a time when all Lea had to do was look at him for too long or in a certain way and within half a second Isa would blush. The blue haired boy reddened further when a couple other memories sprang to mind and was glad again, that Axel was presently out of the room. He breathed in the scent that was so familiar to him that he could pick it out of a crowd.

"Hey, Isa?" said boy jumped, quickly sitting up straight and hoping any trace of pink had already left his face. Axel raised his eyebrows but crossed the room wordlessly, dumping his pyjamas into his double handled, Addidas sports bag. Everything except his clothes and valuables were boxed up and in the large removal van outside. The remaining items were going to be packed into the car with him.

"Yes…?"

"Um, have you ever thought that…that night…we both might have got away…?" the blue haired boy felt his stomach knot. Axel had his back to the other boy, not even daring a glance in his direction.

"Even if we had, I couldn't have gone home," Isa replied, throat tight.

"Neither could I," the redhead pointed out, carefully.

"You could have…if you'd wanted to. But I wasn't going to risk the outcome of you _not_ wanting to," the blue haired boy said looking down at his clasped hands, voice growing ever more detached.

"The outcome of living with me in a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere," the redhead retorted sarcastically but there was an undercurrent of bitterness that gave him pause.

"No," Isa replied softly, something new to the redhead's ears but at the same time, familiar. "I didn't want to ruin your life any further. But I didn't take into account that you would, undoubtedly, follow me anyway…even if it was somewhere we'd never come back from," Axel finally turned to look at the boy with the downcast eyes.

"You can't predict every move I make," Axel attempted to joke with a shrug. Isa remained still as a statue.

"I should have been able to predict that," the blue haired boy returned, simply. "I would have done the same for you." He murmured the last part before sighing and closing his eyes. An invisible force seemed to tug the redhead forwards a couple steps as if he were about to comfort the blue haired boy. He froze on the spot, trying to decide whether he should go to the boy or not. He wanted to, he knew that even without the part of him deep down that urged him to, half desperately. But Axel was strangely afraid to touch him. Partly because he was scared the boy would be revealed as nothing but a ghost, not real at all. And partly, because he had a feeling that taking the pastel blue haired boy into his arms would open up something that would change his life forever; he was still unsure of whether that would be a good or bad thing.

"Should I not have said that?" Isa asked, wondering at the redhead's abnormal silence.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's fine. I was just thinking…" Axel answered quickly, snapping out of his reverie. "Hey, wait- even if I'd escaped and gone home, my parents wouldn't have remembered me- would they?" Isa stood then, walking over to the window that was still partially open.

"They would have, the moment they saw you. It would have broken the spell, as they say. They would have assumed you had just been out or at a friend's house a little longer than usual," Isa pushed his hands into the pockets of his dark blue jeans. His short sleeved white shirt was rustling slightly from the breeze.

"Hmmm," the redhead placed his hands behind his head, tilting his face up towards the ceiling, before allowing his eyes to fall shut, for a moment. "What do you-" Axel made a small noise of exclamation on opening his eyes again. A younger Isa turned to look at him, a smile not quite hidden as he rolled his eyes at the redhead.

"Lea?" he heard both of them say. Blinking, the blue haired boy returned to his current form of tall, long haired and finely muscular. "Are you alright?"

"Who, me? Yeah, yeah. Anyway…" Axel laughed awkwardly as he sat down on the loveseat to pull on his converses. "Breakfast?"

"What? Oh, yes. Do you really have the time, though?" the blue haired boy seemed a tad shy but it could have been the redhead's imagination- or memories- playing up.

"I'm all set- got nothing to do now but pass time," picking up his keys the redhead started for the door, only looking back to add a, "You coming?"

"Yes," Isa hurried after the grinning redhead.

They hadn't gotten very far down the path when Isa hesitated. Axel doubled back, hooking his thumbs on the belt loops of his jeans.

"Are you sure about this?" the blue haired boy asked, warily.

"Yeah…why?"

"You really don't mind being seen out with me in public?" the redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I? It's not like you still have yellow eyes and a huge X on your forehead, you know," Isa winced but didn't say anything. "Anyway, even if you did still look like that, I'd have breakfast with ya in pubic, all the same."

"You wouldn't," Isa replied, quietly. "If I looked like that, I would be Saïx- not Isa,"

"What's the difference?" Axel asked, genuinely. The blue haired boy looked at the redheads open emerald eyes for a time and then shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, let's go,"

"It kind of does matter, Isa," Axel returned as the blue haired boy ghosted passed him, expression now closed. "Hey," the redhead grabbed the other boys hand without thinking. He was about to say something- although he wasn't entirely sure what- when his eyes fell passed the river of blue hair and landed on a set of startled ocean blue eyes.

"Axel,"

"Hey, Roxas…how you been?" the redhead began, cupping the side of his neck and letting go of Isa's hand. The golden blond's confusion deepened.

"I thought you'd already left…?" his tone was matter of fact but the redhead could see the sparks flying within his eyes.

"I'm leaving tonight, actually…"

"Oh," was all the blond said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Will you…come and see me off?" Axel tried, shifting his weight away from the closeness of Isa.

"If you want me too…" Roxas was looking down but Axel could sense the note of hope in the small boy's voice.

"Sure I do! Silly," the redhead smiled brightly, which the blond returned for a moment or two.

"Okay, see you then,"

"Yep- six thirty on the dot," the redhead ruffled his hair before the blond walked away. Axel breathed a sigh, watching Roxas' retreating figure, silently.

"You should go after him," Isa spoke, finally.

"Wha…? No, I'm good,"

"You are?" the blue haired boy questioned him, doubtfully. Axel looked at his lost friend.

"Roxas was already gone when you found me. I'm just glad you did,"

"…I see you haven't changed; always picking up stray puppies," Isa teased, causing the redhead to feel dizzy amidst the déjà vu before he caught himself.

"Are you referring to yourself or Roxas? Because I doubt anyone would mistake _you_ for a cute little puppy," Axel pinched Isa's cheeks, cooing at the shocked blue haired boy who blushed. "Hey, I didn't know you could blush,"

"Lea, stop- get off!" the redhead did as he was told but gripped his side, laughing for a few minutes. Isa just stood there, arms crossed and glaring at Axel. His rosy cheeks on full display, the blue haired boy huffed and spun on his heal.

"Aw, come on, Isa. Lighten up!" Axel called as he jogged to catch up to the other boy.

"You can talk, which hedgehog died this month to become that wig you call 'hair'?" Isa said, stonily.

"Whatever, I'm sure that some time in the past you admitted to loving it." The redhead replied, not deterred. "Anyway, am I supposed to believe that colours natural?" Axel pointed at the back of Isa's head where his hair fell in long- spiky- ripples.

"Yes," the redhead snorted.

"Right, okay, sure,"

"What?" the blue haired boy demanded, stopping in the other boy's path.

"Well, it's just too damn gorgeous to be real," Axel purred, in a southern accent for reasons unknown- even to himself. Isa rolled his eyes, placing his hand on his hip lightly.

"You're obnoxious,"

"What's that mean again?" the redhead said deliberately, grinning widely as he watched one of Isa's perfectly green eyes twitch, involuntarily. "Admit it! You're exactly the same as you've always been,"

"I wouldn't speak so soon if I were you. You haven't regained your whole memory yet, Lea," Isa replied in a quiet, emotionless voice.

"Has it ever occurred to you, that you aren't a mind reader?"

"What are you talking about?" the blue haired boy frowned in frustration.

"Neither of us knows what was going through my head while we were…Axel and Saïx," Isa cocked his head as Axel took his hand again. "All I know, is that when I woke up, and saw what they'd done to you…I knew I wasn't going to leave your side again- didn't even have to think about it," an indecipherable look flitted through Isa's eyes for a moment but then he looked away again.

"Perhaps…" the blue haired boy murmured, before continuing up the station steps. Axel, half a step behind, conjured up his mental puzzle that made up Isa and filled in another piece, smiling to himself.

"Let me guess what your favourite sandwich is,"

"I already know what yours is,"

"Yeah? Well, let's hear it,"

"It's not something that you'd find in a shop,"

"Keep going…"

"It's Nutella chocolate spread and peanut butter,"

"…That's it in a nutshell,"

"…"

"Okay! Let's see, what kind of sandwich does the almighty Isa like best…?"

"Do you need a hint?"

"No! No, thank you, I've got this…"

"As you wish,"

"Hmm…oh, I know!"

"Well?"

"…Man, I almost had it- don't say anything! Just give me some time…"

"…"

"Oh…ah…hmm…gah- got it!"

"Okay…"

"It's ham salad- without the mayo,"

"No,"

"Wha…?!"

"_Chicken_ salad, without the mayonnaise,"

"So close…"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

Axel shoved the last of his bags into the cramped boot of the family four by four, as his mother spoke to his father on the phone about last minute arrangements. They were going to meet him at the house; he'd be there already as it was only a short journey from his work.

"Hey, Axel!" the redhead glanced up to see a grinning Demyx run up to him, Zexion lagging behind him with a subdued expression. Axel didn't blame him, he didn't like goodbyes either- assuming that it was the redheads leaving that he was down about. All doubt was erased however, when the short silvery blue haired boy stepped up and gave Axel a timid, but comforting hug.

"Hey, guys," the redhead rubbed Zexion's back as the mullet/mohawked honey blond curled into his side.

"Gonna miss you, Ax!"

"Everybody's disappearing…"

"Can I join in the group hug?" all three boys looked at the black haired boy, watching them fondly, faces ranging from surprised to exultant to just plain happy.

"Vincent!"

"Vincent…?"

"You're always welcome," the redhead responded, opening his arms up wider. The four friends enveloped each other for a minute before pulling back, laughing a little. The blue haired boy had tears on his face, which Demyx instantly went to kiss away.

"Ready?" Vincent asked the redhead. Axel breathed out.

"Yeah,"

"Heya, Roxas!" the honey blond half rugby tackled the much smaller golden blond.

"Hey, Demyx," Roxas smiled breathlessly, slightly stunned.

"Hello again, Roxas," the black haired boy musseled his hair a bit.

"Hi," the blond blushed. Axel nudged his shoulder with his own, moving a little away from the group. "So, what's Dem on today?" the small blond joked lightly.

"Oh, the usual- air," the redhead answered seriously. "Or maybe he got lucky with Zex, last night…" he added, a playful glint entering his eyes. The blond squirmed, reddening further.

"Axel," Roxas objected, glancing at the happy couple and then away. "Anyway, are you all set?"

"Yep, just waiting on my mum now," the redhead shrugged, stepping closer to the blond and slipping his hand into Roxas'.

"This is it, then," Roxas said quietly, squeezing the redhead's hand.

"I guess so…" Axel returned the pressure, emerald meeting ocean blue.

"Will you…visit?"

"…Maybe," the blond looked down, glimpsing their clasped hands from the corner of his eye. The redhead simply lifted the small boys chin with his index finger and briefly brushed their lips together. The blond's eyes filled with tears the moment Axel pulled away again. Axel closed his eyes, not wanting to see the devastating look on the other boys face.

"Lea?" both boys looked towards the voice. The redhead had a tiny heart attack; he could have sworn he'd heard another, completely difference voice call out to him. But it was just his mother. "It's time to go…" Axel nodded vaguely.

"How come she called you 'Lee'?" Roxas wondered aloud.

"Huh? Um, Lea's my real name," the redhead answered, distracted.

"Oh," green eyes returned to the blond.

"Bye, Roxas,"

"Yeah…bye," the redhead slowly started back towards the car, leaving the blond standing there, forlorn. "…Lea," Axel hugged each of his friends one by one, holding onto Vincent a little longer than the rest.

"See you again," the black haired boy promised, kissing Axel on the forehead.

"Stay out of trouble," the redhead smiled.

"Isn't that my line?" Vincent smirked.

"Look after yourself," Zexion said tentatively, as his boyfriend swung his arm around his waist.

"And hey, if you ever get down, remember, just jam on an instrument- when I play my sitar, it always cheers me up some," the redhead laughed at Demyx, punching him in the arm.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it the first twenty times you said it,"

"Just saying," the honey blond held a hand up in defence. His blue haired partner face palmed- rather dramatically for him; Demyx must have been rubbing off on him.

"Look after him, Zex," Axel said, grinning at the honey blond's pouty expression.

"Always," Zexion agreed, without hesitation.

"Honey?" Axel's mother spoke, one foot in the driver's side.

"Okay," the redhead sighed, waving her off.

"Take care, boys," Axel's mother beamed, before disappearing into the car and shutting the door. The small golden haired boy wandered over to the group finally, as the redhead ducked into the car, winding his window down.

"Bye, Axel!" the boys waved as the four by four moved away. The redhead stuck his head out of the window, waving back until the figures of his friends faded into the distance. Gradually, Axel sat back in his seat, slowly closing his window again before leaning his head against it.

"Are you okay, Lea?" his mother asked, shooting him concerned glances.

"Hmm…? Uh, yeah, I'm alright…" his voice trailed off as he watched Twilight Town fall away, a little bit at a time. Looking back, Axel gazed up at the clock tower one last time; ghosts of him and Roxas danced along the ledge, taunting him. But when it all vanished behind him, he looked forward, to his new life and the person that awaited him there. 'Wait for me, Isa,'

_"Xemnas is exasperated from all the 'fixing' we've had to do. We have to set things right. There's simply too much on the line…Lea."_

Axel snapped awake, overwhelmed by the intensity of the feelings that, particular memory had evoked within him. He knew it was some time during the period that they were in the Organization but Isa- or Saïx- had called him by his true name. And it hadn't been comforting in the slightest. Although, as he walked away there was almost definitely a part of him, that responded to the reminder of their lost friendship, with hope. It was still unclear however, how they had drifted so far apart. The redhead readjusted his position, before succumbing to sleep yet again.

_Number VIII: Axel. It hadn't been too long since the redhead had joined the Organization, but already he could sense his life as Lea slipping away into the abyss of distant memory. He didn't hurry to the meeting place Saïx had informed him of earlier that day, face frozen in the same expression he'd worn since it all began. Unfortunately the few other looks he would occasionally convey, ranged from displeasure, to cruel, to savage. Axel didn't know which was worse. The redhead could have easily portaled to Number VII through the corridors of the realm of darkness, but he wasn't looking forward to this secret rendezvous. He never looked forward to them if he was honest. The meeting place was the Back Alley in Twilight Town, assuming the usual kids weren't hanging around there. Saïx probably didn't know about them, but Axel had seen them around, every now and then. Since he was already in the peaceful town, the redhead drew out the short walk for as long as he could._

_"You're late," a cool voice stated as soon as Axel rounded the corner._

_"Really? Must have lost track of time," the redhead said breezily, as the blue haired boy with the feral eyes and grotesque- at least to the redhead- scar between those eyes, emerged from the shadows. It would have pierced Axel's heart every time he saw the patch of ruined skin; if he'd had one._

_"The last thing we need is Xemnas getting suspicious, Axel," Saïx practically glared._

_"I know that," the redhead frowned, looking anywhere but at the boy who used to be Isa._

_"Really? Because it doesn't seem like you truly grasp the seriousness of our situation,"_

_"I understand it better than you think." The redhead shot back._

_"Then start acting like it, otherwise we'll both end up Dusks; nothing more than empty shells,"_

_"As opposed to empty shells with memories? I don't know, right now, becoming a dusk seems pretty appealing," Axel returned, sarcastically. When he saw the blue haired boy's eye twitch, he immediately regretted it, looking down as he crossed his arms tightly._

_"If that's how you feel,"_

_"Feel?" the redhead repeated, incredulous at the slip of the usually perfectly, articulated boy. Saïx's eyes narrowed._

_"If that's what you _think_, then tell me now and I'll resign to seeing this plan through myself," the redhead rolled his eyes._

_"I want my heart back as much as you do, ya know,"_

_"To reclaim the life of memories you would much rather not have?" the blue haired boy replied, stonily._

_"There's always the chance you'll wake up," the redhead mumbled._

_"What do you mean?" the redhead was surprised by the genuine look of confusion on his old friends face._

_"Lets just get on with this- sooner we get our hearts back, the sooner we can go home," the boy with the yellow eyes- that the redhead had grown so used to, he had begun to liken to the sun- relaxed, face almost softening, for a millisecond. That tiny glimpse of Isa was enough to tie the redhead's stomach in knots, as he watched the blue haired boy exit through a dark portal, in silence._

_"I'll bring you back. Isa." Gloved hands balled into determined fists._

"Lea…honey, we're here,"

"Huhn…wha…?"

"I said we're here: Hollow Bastion,"

"Oh…oh!" Axels eyes flew open to focus on his surroundings. "What…happened?" getting out of the car, slowly, the redhead did a three-sixty degree turn, mouth open slightly.

"What are you talking about? This is our first time here," his adoptive mother smiled at him quizzically, as she began to empty the trunk. Although the redhead recognised bits and pieces, he couldn't quite figure out which part they were in. The sun was still fairly high up in the sky and Axel remembered his mother mentioning before that Hollow Bastion's time was around three hours behind that of Twilight Town.

"You can say that again," Axel murmured, putting his hands on his hips. "Where exactly, are we?"

"The outer ring of the town- I forgot that transport isn't allowed in; we'll have to walk from here," his mother shot him an apologetic look. "The van got here ahead of us, so they should be unpacking as we speak,"

"How are they going to carry all our furniture and stuff to the house?" the redhead asked, warily as he slung one of his three Addidas bags over his shoulder.

"I guess they'll have to make a few trips…its not like we aren't paying them enough," the redheads mother actually laughed.

"I feel kinda bad," Axel admitted, as he followed his mother, a bag in each hand.

"Well, when we get there you can help them out, if you like…"

"Er, no thanks, I'm alright- sure they can manage," the redhead gave a short nervous laugh, as they cautiously cleared a set of stairs that led into, what seemed to be a market place. It was a square surrounded by small shops and stalls but they moved along, passed an ice-cream shop, which the redhead hesitated by for a moment. Trudging down some more stairs, and walking under a thick archway, they reached what apparently was the only residential area. A house…or was it a bungalow…immediately on their right had various sealed boxes sitting outside.

"I'm guessing this is ours?"

"Yep, isn't it great?! Oh, there's your dad," Axel stood there for a moment, trying to make sense of his jumbled thoughts. For a second, he pictured his younger self perched up on the slanted roof beside Isa, gazing up at the sky.

"Wanna pick your room? I bought the house next door too and had a second floor built," his father called, looking back at the bungalow- turned two story house- proudly. Axel walked up and into the building he was now supposed to call home. He marvelled at the almost identical interior of that of their home back in Twilight Town.

"You know what?" the boy said, turning to his parents, now anxiously awaiting his response. "This is…perfect,"

"That's my boy," his father smiled broadly, giving his shoulder a squeeze before returning to the boxes.

"I'm so glad you like it," his mother gave him a hug, as two muscled guys started to struggle getting the dining table through the door. Axel climbed the staircase in the middle of the open living room area and dumped his bags in the bedroom, south-west of the front of the house. Dusting his hands off randomly, he skipped back downstairs and announced that he was going exploring.

An hour later, Axel was sat on the wall at the top of the steps that ascended from the Borough and lead to the Bailey. Biting off a rather big chunk of his bar of sea-salt ice-cream without thinking, he gripped his forehead, releasing a groan. A quiet chuckle sounded somewhere behind where the redhead sat, legs dangling over the ledge. The emerald eyed boy swung his torso round, a miffed expression on his face.

"You never learn," the pastel blue haired boy murmured, moving closer to the redhead at the same time as keeping his distance from the edge.

"Isa," Axel wasn't sure why but he felt as if he hadn't seen the boy in a lifetime. Perhaps it was something to do with the pace of the memories, which were constantly surfacing now. Or maybe it was just the fact he was now remembering the period of time, where the blue haired boy was within reach but mentally missing.

"Are you alright…?" Isa looked positively worried for a moment; Axel wondered what look he'd been giving the blue haired boy, before instantly morphing it into a smirk.

"You don't waste time,"

"Unlike you," Isa quipped, easily, muscles relaxing and a hand rising absently, to be placed on his hip.

"Wha…?" the redhead returned to his ice-cream as he looked out over Hollow Bastion- he couldn't bring himself to think of it as Radiant Garden.

"You insist on dreaming the day away, eating ice-cream somewhere high up," the blue haired boy sat down, his back to the four inch wall that separated him from the fifty feet or so drop, as he stretched his legs out and folded his hands neatly in his lap.

"No one said you have to hang out with me…" the redhead pointed out, around the ice-cream stick he was chewing on.

"Do you want me to go?" Isa threatened lightly, looking up at the other boy, innocently.

"What? Hey, you can't fool me- I can see through those puppy dog eyes of yours," Axel pointed the stick at Isa's face before he made the mistake of looking into the boys eyes for too long. There was mischief hidden in them but the main shimmer was a perfectly wide eyed 'I'm a cute, adorable looking puppy that you want to take home with you and keep forever and ever' look. After all of five seconds, the redhead crumbled, letting out a sigh, as out of nowhere he felt his right hand drop the stick. Although the blue haired boy was simply looking at him with a smug expression, Axel felt something compel his left hand to reach out and stroke its back over the silky skin of the other boys cheek. Everything went hazy and the redhead felt as if he was no longer the one in control, the blue haired boy simultaneously dissolving into the younger version that lived in Axel's memory. Isa was looking both, shocked and anxious, barely moving or breathing.

"Lea?" the redhead smiled in response, faintly. There was nothing but a thin strip of air between their mouths now; Isa wasn't entirely sure he should let this happen but at the same time, there was a voice screaming in the back of his mind: 'Finally. He's mine.' But Axel could only see the sarcastic fifteen year old from his past. Face having grown perplexed and torn, the blue haired boy tried not to be swayed by the redhead's hot breath that was dancing around his lips. Axel was momentarily distracted by the lovely disarray of emotions on the other boys face. The rare sight only led his mind to wander further, soaking up the soft pink that had graced Isa's cheeks. However, the moment the blue haired boy parted his lips to suck in a sharp breath, the redhead caught his mouth and Isa let go.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

Axel regained consciousness ten minutes later, cracking his eyes open, warily. His head ached and his heart felt uncomfortably tight.

"What…happened?" he managed as Isa came into view. The blue haired boy had a look of chagrin on his face, as his worried eyes searched the redheads.

"You…passed out," Isa sighed, moving away as Axel sat up. Aside from the headache, there was a throbbing coming from the back of his head. Gingerly the redhead rubbed at the spot, wincing on impact. "You hit your head- thank god you didn't fall in the opposite direction," both boys glanced at the ledge.

"Yeah…"

"Are you badly hurt?" the redhead glanced up at the other boys, half desperate face. He had a brief flash of the kiss they'd shared and immediately took on a more suitable, embarrassed expression.

"I had another dream," was the redheads only answer, as he pulled himself to his feet. When he staggered, Isa automatically reached out to steady him; their eyes met once before they both looked away, Axel scratching the back of his neck.

"You should go home, get some rest," the blue haired boy suggested, his back now turned.

"What about you?" Axel asked, awkwardly.

"I have somewhere," Isa answered, vaguely.

"Do you have a phone or something?" the other boy merely shook his head.

"Here," the redhead sighed. "So I can call you if…I don't know, I wanna talk, I guess," Isa nodded once before taking the phone and leaving. 'This is just great' taking one last look up at the early risen moon, Axel headed home.

Isa was looking out over the moonlit sky that hung above Villains Vale, when Axel's phone started beeping. Carefully the blue haired boy pressed the answer button and held the small object to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Can I tear you away from moon gazing for a bit?"

"Lea? How did you know I was, 'moon gazing'?"

"What else would you be doing?"

"What do you want?"

"Nothing really, I'm just bored- wanna watch a movie or something?"

"…What about your parents?"

"What about them?"

"…"

"So, what do ya say?"

"Alright then…"

"Hurry up then, or you'll miss all the popcorn,"

"Okay,"

"See ya,"

Isa stared at the phone screen for a moment- it was a photo of Axel and Roxas. The redhead had the blond in a head lock and was grinning at the camera. Roxas was bright red and pouting, all the while struggling in Axels grasp. Standing to the side was a silvery blue haired boy, face palming and clearly unaware that he was in the picture. Isa flipped the phone shut, tucking it away in his back pocket. The picture had hardly been romantic, but all the same the blue haired boy felt a tug of longing for the years that he'd wasted saying very little in the redheads presence, or anyone else's for that matter. Gradually Isa made his way to Axel's house, stopping at the door, unsure. He wasn't sure if he should knock or scale the redhead's window- not that he knew which one that was. The dilemma however, was solved for him when the front door swung open to reveal a pouty redhead in grey pyjamas and a white t-shirt.

"You sure took your time," Axel said, crossing his arms.

"Did I?" Isa replied, deliberately nonchalantly. Axel merely reached out and pulled him in by the collar of his shirt, before closing the door behind them.

"Mum, Dad- Isa's here, we're gonna watch a movie in my room," Axel declared towards the couple curled up on the sofa, in front of the TV. The redheads parents glanced up and looked at Isa; for what seemed like forever to the blue haired boy, the two adults stared at him, going a little spacey. Isa shifted nervously before the moment finally ended.

"Isa! My how you've grown,"

"How are your parents, Isa?"

"So hansom," Axels mother gave the startled blue haired boy a tight hug, pushing his hair back and smiling fondly. "Okay, don't stay up too late, you two,"

"We won't," the redhead replied quickly, pulling his blushing friend up the stairs. Once in Axel's room, with the door shut, the emerald eyed boy breathed out visibly.

"Phew! That was weird,"

"Mhm…"

"What are you smiling at?" Isa settled among the cushions splayed out on the floor.

"Nothing, I…just realised how much I've missed your parents,"

"Don't you mean me?" the redhead teased, picking up a DVD box and walking over to set the film up.

"What are we watching?" the blue haired boy inquired, pulling out a couple pieces of popcorn from the giant bowl.

"It's a surprise," Axel smirked as he sat down beside Isa, placing the remote down on the bed behind them and shoving a large handful of sweet popcorn into his mouth. The blue haired boy rolled his eyes as he watched the redhead. "What?" Isa just shook his head.

"Wait- you cannot be serious…?" the blue haired boy started, finally picking up on the familiar music coming from TV.

"I remembered us watching it once, earlier- I felt like I was remembering one of the happiest days of my life…" the redhead admitted, earning a hint of a smile and a tinge of pink to the other boy's cheeks.

"I'm guessing you don't remember the rest then," Isa wasn't sure if he should be glad or disappointed, so he went for neutral.

"It'll come back to me," the redhead went on, happily. A while later, they'd finished off the popcorn and the cans of Dr Pepper the redhead had fetched them, and were engrossed in the film. It was the scene where David and Teddy go to find the Blue Fairy at the bottom of the ocean and is pleading for her- a mere statue, unbeknownst to the small uncomprehending, robot boy- to make him real. Isa's attention was more on Axel. The redhead had leant forward slightly and was clutching subconsciously at the space over his heart.

'…please, please make me into a real live boy…'

The blue haired boy absently lifted his left hand to stroke the fiery mane of spikes. The redhead responded without hesitating, to lean back again and curl into the other boy's side. Resting his head on Isa's shoulder among the blue locks, Axel felt the first of many tears to come by the films ending, bounce inaudibly off the blue haired boy's shirt. Isa, who had been mentally, battling with himself whether he should put his arm around the other boy or not, paused as he registered his dampened shirt. Silently he took up rubbing the other boys back in a soothing motion. The first time the boys had watched this particular film, Isa had been the first to crack, sobbing quietly, not even bothering to try and dry his eyes. But that was before he became the hardened shell he was today. He was slowly starting to break through, though, one thin layer at a time. At least he had found his place once again; here, at Leas side. Axel sniffed, trying to discreetly rub his eyes. Wordlessly, Isa reached his free arm behind him, fingers making contact with the tissue box that the redhead had undoubtedly placed there earlier in anticipation. Instead of simply handing the other boy the tissue, the blue haired boy shifted in his seat and began to tenderly wipe the tears away himself. Just like Lea had done for him, originally. Emerald eyes gazed up at Isa, blinking away the water collecting within them, looking dazed.

"Your hairs too long," the blue haired boy stated randomly, trying to distract the redhead.

"You're too far away," Axel returned, meekly. The hand that Isa was using to dry the redheads eyes, faltered for a few seconds but it was long enough for the other boy to take hold of it. Axel lowered their hands before tilting his face up towards Isa's. Isa moved his left hand to cover the redhead's mouth. Axel momentarily frowned but relaxed again when the blue haired boy slowly brought his face closer. Eyes closed, Isa nudged the redhead's nose affectionately with his own, before starting to remove the hand he held over Axel's mouth, trailing his fingers down over the partially opened lips and feeling the quick gusts of hot breath escaping them. The blue haired boy couldn't bring himself to be annoyed when the redheads patience ran out and he caught the others lips hungrily for the second time that day. Reality and illusion merged for both the boys. Each saw the other as they were in their memories. Shorter hair, slightly rounder and unmarked faces; innocent eyes…

"There's the Isa I remember," the redhead murmured against silky pale skin.

"…Lea…"

The next morning, as the sun began to rise outside of the redhead's window, he lay on his side watching an unusually peaceful Isa sleep. The blue haired boy was facing the redhead, a hand outstretched across the space between the two as if reaching out for the other boy. The redhead rubbed sleep from his eyes, yawning. He wasn't sure how long he'd been awake, watching the other boy's slow, steady breathing. When he'd first awoken, he'd been startled by the form lying next to him; he had been so caught up in the memory of his lost friend, he was momentarily confused to see the boy older, and the blue river of hair billowing around him instead of the short spikes. Now, he gently trailed the back of his index finger along the length of the others arm. It felt just as soft as the night before, though the redhead was unsure why he expected it to be different. Isa moved, responding to the action. The redhead smiled, placing a feather weight kiss on the other boys hand, slowly working his way down, around the bend in his elbow and then up to his bare shoulder. The blue haired boy hummed in content for a minute, before finally coming to and practically bolting upright. The redhead leant back on an elbow and simply raised an eyebrow. Isa stared down at the other boy in alarm until it finally dawned on him that this was in fact, Lea, and not some random stranger. The redhead had lost himself in the gorgeous colour that had bloomed on Isa's face, when the blue haired boy cautiously lay back down on his back.

"I'm sorry," he said, sounding formal. The redhead refrained from choking.

"For what?" he demanded, defensive as he adjusted himself so that his hand was propped under his chin and he was looking down at the other boy.

"For my reaction just now," Isa frowned. "What did you think I was apologising for?" the redheads face cleared but only to take on an embarrassed smile, not meeting the others eyes.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he waved a dismissive hand.

"Wait, didn't you do this last time as well?" the redhead shrugged awkwardly.

"I don't remember,"

"You remember exactly! Lea…" the redhead looked away as a light blush crept over his sharp cheekbones. "Oh…"

"What?"

"You thought I was going to say that this was a mistake, didn't you?" Isa sat up again and gripped the other boys chin, turning his face towards his own. Green met green.

"Okay, fine. Yeah that's what I thought- but you have to admit, it didn't really seem like _we_ were the ones having sex…if you know what I mean. I thought maybe you didn't really know what you were doing…" the blue haired boys grip softened.

"How do you explain the first time? Why were you so worried I was going to 'run for the hills' as they say, back then?" the redhead sighed.

"I'm always scared you're going to run, Isa," said boys forehead creased as the other boy cast his eyes downwards.

"Even…back then?"

"Its not like that, it…you just feel that way when you have something…or someone you care about a lot, you know? It's not really a bad thing…"

"I see," Isa slowly made for the edge of the bed and began to get dressed. The redhead sat up ramrod straight.

"What're you doing?" the blue haired boy turned back towards the redhead as he swiftly did up the buttons on his shirt.

"I need to use the bathroom, and I'm definitely not going to risk bumping into one of your parents while I'm in the nude," the redhead nearly laughed, half from relief and half from the grave expression on the others face. Popping his lips back into their usual sunny disposition, he lay back down, arms behind his head and closed his eyes. A step or two and a shift of the bed later, a brisk but firm kiss was pressed to the redheads lips before their owner disappeared out of the door. Leas lips curled further in response just as the first rays of the morning sun shone through his window.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII**

"We lost our hearts, didn't we?" the redhead said two days later. It was Tuesday night and they were now fully settled in. The two boys were spread out on top of the redheads house, moon gazing. Lea had his chin propped on top of his folded arms, in front of him, whereas Isa lay on his back, hands resting lightly on his torso.

"How do you mean?"

"They were…stolen from us," the redhead said quietly, almost in wonder but not quite.

"Yes." Was all the blue haired boys response.

"But how did we get them back? How did I end up living in Twilight Town, with my parents and back in school?"

"I don't know."

"What d'ya mean, you 'don't know'?" the redhead asked, incredulous.

"I suppose we were saved," the other boy said, mildly.

"Isa…?" Lea began after a moment, slipping the blue haired boy a side glance.

"Yes?" Isa lifted his hand to entangle within the pillar box red spikes of hair.

"When you…were Saïx…did you still think about me- I mean, what were you thinking, what was going through your head?" the blue haired boy sighed before moving his hand down to stroke the smooth skin of the redheads neck. Lea placed his hand on the other boys forearm, rubbing his thumb backwards and forwards.

"Sometimes…its strange, most of the time, it was as if I wasn't the one doing or saying the things that I did and I knew it wasn't me- I knew the last thing I should be doing was pushing you away…you were all I had, all I ever had…but I just couldn't stop myself. Every so often, usually on days when we had just met to discuss our…plans, I'd think of nothing but you and how we used to be. It effected me that you could barely stand to be in my presence but then you would look at me with pity and regret and I could scarcely bare that either. You, looking at me as if I had betrayed you- no, as if I had betrayed Isa; myself.

"I became bitter fast; all I wanted was my heart back- to go back to the way things used to be and there you were, acting as though you had never lost yours. I resented the fact that you didn't seem to need your heart at all to…be, to make friends, to live. The closer we came to completing our goal to reclaim our hearts, the more futile it began to seem; I wanted us back, Lea and Isa, in Radiant Garden but the more you distanced yourself from me, the further away that life became. And if we- if I- couldn't go back to that life, that we both shared and cherished at one time, what did it matter whether I had my heart or not?

"You were gone and I was left to my own devices. But I could not accept it. I couldn't believe that even as Lea and Isa once again, you would still chose to abandon our friendship, after everything we had been through. I amended to focus entirely on our goal. Eventually the feelings of envy, jealousy and anger that I had harboured for you and your new life, died away to nothing but memories. Soon I felt very little at all; I lived and breathed for the one thing that would make us whole again and return you to me. The thought never occurred to me that you wouldn't want anything more to do with me- at least, I wouldn't allow it to. But never did I imagine, even in our diminished friendship, that you could ever possibly forget me. I guess that secretly, I must have thought you still held enough hope for the both of us, just as you always did.

"Lea, you didn't see how much I really needed you there, pushing me, fighting for the Isa within me- but in the end, its true that I brought it all on myself."

"Isa…" the redhead didn't know what to say. His gaze was trained on the boy who lay calmly, looking up at the moon. Lea half expected the other boy to glare at him and demand an apology- no, he wished that the quiet blue haired boy would do that because of how bad he felt. But this was Isa. If the redhead wanted punishment, he would have to be the one to deal it out- the only person Isa blamed for both of their misfortunes was himself. Lea knew that if they both thought about it logically, going back to the beginning of it all, it was the redhead's recklessness and stupidity that had started the chain reaction. But this was one of the very few times where the blue haired boy didn't deliberately go looking for every fault he could in his best friend; it was his own fault, simply because he'd failed to shield both Lea and himself- no matter how the danger had come to be.

"Isa, look at me," the redhead placed a hand on the other boys cheek, turning his face gently. "Even when your eyes were as yellow as the sun and you wore that cold, unfeeling expression as permanently as the scar on your forehead- your face, was the only one I ever wanted to see when I woke up, everyday, during that time,"

"Lea…"

"I know that because I'm me; Axel and Lea- one in the same. Just like you are both Isa and Saïx. And that also means that I know I'm the one to blame, so you can stop punishing yourself. That's an order, alright?"

"If only it were that simple," the blue haired boys face had softened considerably, but his eyes still held an edge of seriousness.

"It is, just forget about it all- its over," Lea gave a little shrug, tracing patterns over the pale skin of the other boys face.

"That's extremely easy for you to say," Isa returned, brushing the others red mane back from his face.

"Is not! I remember now, don't I? Now I just have to forget about all the icky stuff,"

"Do you, remember everything now?" Isa questioned, pressing his lips to the palm of Leas hand.

"Pretty much. I remember my whole time as a Nobody, and all the important stuff from before then," the blue haired boy gave the redhead an odd look. "What? D'I miss something?"

"No, it's just…you say you remember the Organization…and its members?" Isa asked, carefully.

"Well most of them, a couple of them are a bit of a blur," there was a long pause as both boys became distracted by the redheads nibbling along the blue haired boys jaw. "Why, am I missing something important?"

"I'm…not sure. But I didn't think you'd forget them either," the redhead raised an eyebrow but seemed to get side tracked.

"I completely forgot to ask, what happened to our Radiant Garden?!" Isa exhaled, privately relieved at the subject change.

"A lot," the blue haired boy answered in a dry tone. "Although I was emotionally impaired when I first saw what had become of our Garden, I was as surprised as you are now,"

"Well, no wonder they changed the name," Lea mumbled as he sat up, sad emerald eyes taking in the view of the town again, as if any minute he was expecting it to change back to lush greenery and fountains.

"Have you been to see the Castle already?"

"Nope, I was kinda hoping it had been destroyed but I'm guessing it's just abandoned now," the redhead replied honestly, leaning back down and laying his hand on the other boy's chest.

"Do you want to pretend it _was_ destroyed?" Isa asked, securing his arms around the other boy. "By means of fire perhaps…"

"You know what? That sounds perfect," Lea said, chuckling. "Hey, Isa,"

"Yes, Lea?" the blue haired boys eyes were closed now but he was still listening, albeit mostly focused on the rhythm of the redheads naturally fast heartbeat against his body.

"What would you say, if I told you I did remember the other members?"

"Just that I hope I make up for their absence," Isa responded after a beat.

"Really?" the redhead almost whispered.

"Of course," the blue haired boy subconsciously hugged the other boy closer. "I know that I'm very much still the person I was when I was Saïx, but I know you will miss them,"

"I didn't mean it like that- I just," the redhead shrugged. "Didn't want you to think badly of them, you know, for taking me away…" Isa rolled his eyes, a soft smile lighting his features.

"Lea, _you_ took yourself away from me- I would have done the same. I was…insufferable," Lea squirmed in response but paused when he felt the blue haired boy laughing quietly. The redhead propped himself up, resting a hand over Isa's heart; it beat steadily and firm, soothing the green eyed boy. Lea lifted his hand and ran his index finger down the length of the blue haired boy's strong, sculptured nose.

"Shouldn't we…I don't know, be in hiding or getting our own back on Xemnas or stopping the imminent demise of the worlds or something?" the redhead wondered aloud, as Isa trailed his hands up and down his narrow back.

"Most likely," the blue haired boy agreed with a trace of a smirk. "But I think we should skip this battle and stay right here," Lea mock gasped.

"You, the almighty Isa, are proposing we miss an ultimate battle of good versus evil to share some more cuchi-cuchi time?" the redhead grinned wider at the others boys raised eyebrows.

"Cuchi-cuchi time?"

"You know, I don't even know where that came from…huh, must have heard it somewhere," the redhead leant his spiky head back down with a sigh.

"It's getting pretty late," Isa informed, patiently.

"Mhm…in a minute," Lea murmured, cuddling closer; the blue haired boy shook his head but tightened his hold.

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! :)**


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